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With the November 2 trade deadline quickly approaching, Kansas City Chiefs fans have been clamoring for a move — and general manager Brett Veach is doing his due diligence.
On Thursday, NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala tweeted that she was told the Chiefs had made a trade offer to the Pittsburgh Steelers for pass rusher Melvin Ingram.
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
Even though Pittsburgh is still in the mix with a 3-3 record, Ingram has been unhappy with his playing time — and emerging defensive players are eating into his snap counts. But since the Steelers are still competitive, they wouldn’t want to send Ingram to another AFC contender.
Ingram has played in all six Steelers games this season. He’s been on the field for 62% of the defensive snaps, racking up 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, six quarterback hits and one sack. After playing as many as 100% of the snaps in some games, he played only 26% in the last.
This isn’t the first time the Chiefs have expressed interest in Ingram. The team hosted him for a visit during his free agency in late March, but he left without a deal. He eventually signed with Pittsburgh in July.
Late in the offseason, the Chiefs signed defensive end Alex Okafor as their veteran pass-rushing addition. Okafor has no sacks and a pressure rate of 6.9% on 221 total snaps this season, while Ingram has the one sack and a pressure rate of 12.9% on 246 snaps.
By not securing Ingram before the season, the Chiefs might have made a mistake — but it shouldn’t stop them from pursuing him now. The team with the league’s fewest sacks could use a pass-rushing jolt.
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