Three Trade Destinations For Melvin Ingram

It was not so long ago that Melvin Ingram was considered one of the league's most feared pass rushers. Then injuries and age set in and Ingram's play fell off; he missed nearly all of 2020 and had no sacks in the games he did play.

But in his last fully healthy season, Ingram registered seven sacks and 16 QB hits. He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason on a one-year prove-it deal to show he still had something in the tank. Things haven't worked out, though. Ingram's playing time has slowly reduced over the last three weeks and he was only on the field for a quarter of the team's defensive snaps in their Week 6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Now Ingram is on the trade block, per Ian Rapoport:

Steelers pass rusher Melvin Ingram: The longtime Chargers veteran landed in Pittsburgh this year and has yet to hit his stride. With inconsistent playing time, teams have begun calling the Steelers about potentially trading for Ingram, and it does appear the Steelers have listened and engaged. Due the balance of just $1.075 million in base salary (the team paid $2.925 million in a signing bonus), Ingram isn't expensive. The Chiefs have been among those on the hunt around the league for a pass rusher, and they did host Ingram on a visit before he signed.

As you can see above, Ingram is cheap and available. He won't single-handedly fix anybody's pass rush, but he'll be valuable reinforcements for teams weak on that side of the ball. Here are three possible trade partners.

Kansas City Chiefs

The one team specifically named by Rap, the Chiefs need all sorts of help defensively. While their defensive line may be the strongest part of a terrible defense, the edge rush game needs a boost. Chris Jones has been worth his money on the interior, whereas Frank Clark has not. Ingram would help, but nobody is fixing this Chiefs defense with one fell swoop. It would be a good fit, though.

Tennessee Titans

Despite a slow start to the season, the Titans are still in the driver's seat in the AFC South. Their biggest issue defensively (among many, admittedly) is the pass rush. The Titans only have 13 sacks as a team this season, which ranks 28th in the NFL. They have some decent talent on the edges but no pure pass rushers. Ingram could fill that role. Tennessee is in win-now mode and likely feel like they have to make a move. Ingram qualifies.

Green Bay Packers

In the rather likely scenario Pittsburgh would prefer to send Ingram to a different conference entirely rather than just out of division, Green Bay makes sense. They don't have a particularly dangerous pass-rush, especially after Za'Darius Smith had to go under the knife for a back injury. The events of this offseason could've pushed the Packers into more of a win-now mindset and Ingram would be a good way to prove to Aaron Rodgers that they're serious about going all-in on his tenure.