Getty Arrowhead Stadium, where Armani Watts played for the last four seasons.
The Kansas City Chiefs have signed offensive lineman Vindaliy Gurman, according to the NFL’s personnel notice on May 16.
Gurman entered the league undrafted this year. He spent the last two seasons of his collegiate career at Toledo, earning third-team All-MAC honors in 2021 for his efforts. He started 13 games last season for Toledo and 19 games total during his time there, according to Toledo’s website.
Gurman was one of the 40 players that tried out for Kansas City during their rookie minicamp from May 7 to May 9. He then tried out for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their rookie minicamp from May 13 to 15. But he didn’t perform well enough to be signed to Pittsburgh’s roster following the three-day event.
With Gurman on the roster, the Chiefs’ offensive tackle room heading into OTAs, which begin on May 25, consists of Orlando Brown Jr., Andrew Wylie, Lucas Niang, Geron Christian Sr., Roderick Johnson, and Prince Tega Wanogho.
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Melvin Ingram Chooses Dolphins Over Chiefs
In other Chiefs-related news, Kansas City has lost out on veteran free agent defensive end Melvin Ingram despite placing a free agent tender on him. Ingram is signing with the Miami Dolphins, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network on May 15.
Dolphins have agreed to terms and are signing veteran pass rusher Melvin Ingram, according to a league source
The good news for the Chiefs in this situation is that they get a 2023 compensatory pick in return for Ingram signing elsewhere due to the free agent tender, which they placed on him on May 2. So, although they lose a player that could have potentially added another season of pass-rush value to Kansas City’s defense, the Chiefs stack on top of their now-11 draft picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, which will take place in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ingram an Impact Player for Chiefs in 2021
Ingram was traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Chiefs in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick on November 2, 2021. Following the trade, Kansas City went 9-1 and allowed just 16.6 points per game on defense. That’s in part because of what Ingram’s ability did to boost the Chiefs’ defense.
From being traded to the Chiefs until the end of the regular season, Ingram recorded an overall grade of 79.0 from PFF, which ranked sixth among Chiefs defenders and second to only Chris Jones along the defensive line. However, his 88.2 run defense grade was by far the best on the team, as the next best defender against the run Kansas City had was cornerback Rashad Fenton, who graded nearly 10 points lower at 79.8 during the regular season.
I’m still thinking about this play from Melvin Ingram
Comparing Ingram’s run defense grade as a Chief to other edge defenders’ grades for the entire regular season, Ingram ranked second overall in the league, only behind Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (93.2).
Ingram Expressed Desire to Return to Chiefs
Although it was back in January, Ingram did publicly express a desire to return to the Chiefs for the 2022 season.
“I definitely got a lot of desire, but that’s looking too far ahead in the future,” Ingram said of wanting to return to the Chiefs during his press conference on Wednesday, January 19. “I ain’t never been a person to look far into the future. I’m just focused on the task we got at hand right now, and that’s trying to win another playoff game.”
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach also said at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine that Ingram was a player the organization wanted back in the fold.
“I do think if a guy like Melvin decides he wants to come back and play, I think we would be at the top of his list, and that’s something we’ll work to keep a dialogue open with,” Veach said on February 1.
Although the Chiefs tried to bring Ingram back via a tender — which would have paid the veteran $4.4 million on a one-year deal — Ingram signs with the Dolphins, who value Ingram enough to give up future draft capital for the 33-year-old defender.
As of May 17, Kansas City’s defensive end room consists of rookie first-round pick George Karlaftis, Frank Clark, Mike Danna, Joshua Kaindoh, Malik Herring, and Austin Edwards.