The Chiefs called the Steelers with interest in trading for outside linebacker Melvin Ingram a week ago and the Steelers weren't interested.
But after Ingram sat out Sunday's 15-10 win over the Browns in Cleveland with a groin injury and both Taco Charlton and Derrek Tuszka showed themselves to be up to the task of being the primary backups behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, the Steelers revisited the situation.
Tuesday morning, they sent Ingram to the Chiefs for a sixth-round draft pick. The pick belonged to the Ravens, but was acquired by the Chiefs as part of the deal for Orlando Brown.
"I enjoyed working with Melvin. It just didn’t work out the way we envisioned or the way he envisioned," Mike Tomlin said. "Sometimes that happens in free agency. That’s really culturally why we build our team through the draft. When you work with guys from the time they’re 20, 21, you get a chance to be part of their development. They get an opportunity to buy into your system of ball and their role in it. It just makes the division-of-labor thing a more fluid thing. Free agency makes it more cumbersome at times to get to know (the player) as you’re preparing to play games. It’s good for him. We wish him the best moving forward. But it’s also good for us."
Ingram was signed to a one-year deal, $4-million contract with voidable years in the days before training camp to serve as the primary backup to Watt and Highsmith.
But because of injuries to both -- and Watt's training camp sit-in while working on a new contract -- Ingram played more than expected early in the season. He played 54 snaps in the team's win at Buffalo in Week 1, then saw a season-high 57 snaps in a Week 2 loss to the Raiders.
However, Ingram saw those snaps drop to 17 two weeks ago in a win over the Seahawks before not playing against the Browns.
Ingram, 32, didn't make the trip with the team to Cleveland after missing every practice last week with a groin injury. He finishes his time with the Steelers with 10 tackles, 1 sack and 6 quarterback hits. He winds up counting just over $1 million against the Steelers' salary cap this season.
Ingram, a former first-round pick of the Chargers, returns to the AFC West, where he spent the majority of his career.
The additional draft pick could help the Steelers be active on the trade market with the deadline looming at 4 p.m. today. The Steelers have shown some interest in acquiring a veteran defensive lineman to help bolster their depth there after losing Tyson Alualu for the season and having Stephon Tuitt begin the season on injured reserve with no timetable set on a return.
Ingram had help fill some snaps there as an interior pass rusher in the dime defense.
To that point, the team did add Khalil Davis, the twin brother of current Steelers defensive tackle Carlos Davis, to their practice squad Tuesday. Carlos Davis, a seventh-round draft pick, was placed on injured reserve last week. Khalil Davis was a sixth-round pick of the Bucs last season. He was claimed off waivers by the Colts a few weeks ago but released last week.
Ironically, the Steelers signed Charlton, a former first-round draft pick of the Cowboys, after he was released by the Chiefs at the end of the preseason.
Per the NFL's NextGen stats, Watt is second in the NFL in edge rushing win rate at 28 percent, while Highsmith is ninth at 23 percent. Ingram was 55th with a win rate of 8 percent.
Now, Charlton and Tuszka will fill those backup roles. Charlton was selected with the 28th pick in the 2017 draft, two selections before the Steelers took Watt.
He has 11 sacks in 45 career games -- 12 starts -- while Tuszka was signed to the practice squad at the end of training camp following his release by the Broncos. A 2020 seventh-round draft pick of the Broncos, Tuszka has appeared in five games for the Steelers in a limited role, making four tackles.
"We’re excited about the growth and development of Taco. Taco has been on our practice squad over a month now," Tomlin said. "We had an opportunity to elevate him against the game versus Cleveland. He gave us more than adequate work there. We’re going to continue to give him opportunities, along with Derrek to fortify depth at the outside linebacker position. Obviously, we’re extremely comfortable with the growth and development of Alex Highsmith."
