Melvin Ingram reportedly wants out of Pittsburgh, and the Steelers should attempt to trade him before the November 2nd deadline.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Melvin Ingram this past summer, and the veteran edge defender was looking like a stud early in the season. Unfortunately, a recent report surfaced that the former Pro Bowl pass rusher wants out of Pittsburgh.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was the first to share this news, according to Aditi Kinkhabwala. Here’s what Kinkhabwala had to say via Twitter on Thursday morning:
As @RapSheet reported this weekend, OLB Melvin Ingram does indeed want out of Pittsburgh after seeing a reduction in his playing time. I’m told KC made an offer, but the #Steelers ideally don’t want to send him to an AFC team. Could the #Cardinals make a good trade partner?
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 28, 2021
After playing 64-100 percent of defensive snaps for the Steelers in their first three games this season, Ingram has since played in 49, 60, and 29 percent of snaps, respectively, over their final three contests before entering the bye week.
As Alex Highsmith continues to emerge into more of a full-time role, Ingram obviously isn’t happy with his situation in Pittsburgh and reportedly wants out.
Steelers should entertain offers for Ingram
While I can understand not wanting to part ways with a quality edge defender before the November 2nd NFL trade deadline, the Steelers should certainly be willing to field offers for Melvin Ingram for a number of reasons.
For starters, the development of Highsmith has made Ingram somewhat expendable. Though every team could use a quality rotation of pass rushers on the edge, Pittsburgh is going to rely heavily on T.J. Watt and Highsmith moving forward.
Secondly, we are talking about a team that has traded away all of their original day-three draft capital for the 2022 NFL Draft. Though Pittsburgh should be receiving a few compensatory picks next year from the loss of Bud Dupree and Matt Feiler, they are desperate for more firepower entering next year’s draft.
At 32 years old, Ingram isn’t going to fetch as much as he would have in his prime, but it’s very possible the team could receive a fourth-round pick to let him play elsewhere for the second half of the season — especially considering his very cheap contract. Perhaps they could even get a third-rounder out of a desperate team in trade for Ingram that includes a late-round pick-swap from Pittsburgh in 2023.
Either way, if this is true and Ingram does indeed want out, I don’t see any reason not to oblige. Pittsburgh’s chances are already very slim this year, and the draft capital is starting to become much more important than keeping a backup pass rusher for the final stretch of the year — especially considering that Ingram will be an unrestricted free agent and sign with a different squad anyway after the 2021 season.
I can understand the Steelers not wanting to trade him to an AFC rival, but I think Melvin Ingram should go to the highest bidder before the NFL trade deadline.