Should the Steelers deal Melvin Ingram before the trade deadline?
By Tommy Jaggi
Melvin Ingram has been a very good signing, but here’s why it could make sense for the Steelers to ship him before the NFL trade deadline.
The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t ask to get more out of a cheap free agent signing just before training camp than what they’ve gotten out of former Pro Bowl edge rusher, Melvin Ingram. Despite his reputation, Ingram went mostly unnoticed in free agency after dealing with injuries for most of the 2020 season and not recording a single sack in 7 starts last year.
While he’s playing just a part-time role for the Steelers in 2021, Ingram has been fantastic. This hasn’t necessarily translated to production (he has just 1.0 sack and 2 tackles for a loss), but Ingram is constantly around the quarterback.
Entering Week 8 of the NFL season, Ingram has graded out as the 34th best edge defender in the NFL so far with a very respectable grade of 73.6, according to Pro Football Focus. Despite being 32 years old, Ingram very much looks like the quality player he has had over the past four seasons.
Recently, a question has come up as to whether or not the Pittsburgh Steelers should be interested in trading their backup edge defender before the November 2nd deadline. A case can be made both ways.
Should Steelers trade Melvin Ingram?
On one hand, you can never have enough quality depth when it comes to players that get after the quarterback. These guys need to stay fresh all the time and edge defender is one of the most important positions in football.
We saw how bad the Steelers struggled to generate pass rush when T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were nursing groin injuries early this season, and Ingram’s presence is a welcome addition to this team.
However, there is also a good reason why the Steelers should consider shipping the veteran away before the NFL trade deadline. Though Ingram might be one of the best backup edge rushers in the NFL right now, he would be a full-time starter for many teams out there — teams with a legitimate Super Bowl chance this year and looking to beef up their roster before a playoff run.
Though the Steelers haven’t been eliminated from contention, their odds of winning a Super Bowl this season seem incredibly slim. If they were willing to part ways with a player like Ingram, Pittsburgh could likely fetch a fourth-round pick. They might even be able to get a third-rounder out of Ingram and a late-round 2023 pick swap.
In a year where the Steelers could be looking for their next franchise quarterback, they could use all of the firepowers they could get in the 2022 NFL Draft. It’s also important to consider that this is the same team that is the same team that is currently without their original fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-round draft picks because of trades they made for veterans dating back to last season.
While Pittsburgh is expected to get a few picks back in the comp formula, that doesn’t make up for the loss of these, and adding another quality pick would be better long term than simply holding onto Ingram for the next 11 games.
The Steelers have some choices to make before the deadline, but shopping a player like Melvin Ingram to the highest bidder is something the team is apparently open to doing. With the way things are looking right now, building for the future seems to be more important than anything else.