While many are wondering what is wrong with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense, another lingering issue for the franchise is the state of their defense. Kansas City has had its struggles on that side of the football this season, which as likely impacted the state of play when their offense is on the field.
The organization looked to shore that up on Tuesday, acquiring pass rusher Melvin Ingram prior to the league’s trade deadline. USA Today’s Josina Anderson was first with the news:
Melvin Ingram just told me he is going to the #Chiefs.
— IG: JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) November 2, 2021
Ian Rapoport from the NFL Network followed immediately thereafter with the terms of the trade:
Source: The #Steelers are trading Melvin Ingram to the #Chiefs in exchange for a 6th round pick,
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 2, 2021
Despite acquiring Ingram this off-season, the pass rusher had seen his snaps diminished in the early going of the 2021 campaign. That led to reporting a week ago that he had approached the organization about a potential trade out of town:
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
This move gives the Chiefs a presence on the edge, perhaps allowing Chris Jones to slide back inside. After using Jones on the edge to start the season, we saw more of him on the interior Monday night against the New York Giants, with some positive results for Kansas City:
More Chris Jones pic.twitter.com/mwTVOuh9db
— SyedSchemes (@syedschemes) November 2, 2021
That is something Chiefs fans can hope to see more of after this move.
