Getty Mike Tomlin had some parting words for Melvin Ingram.
The Pittsburgh Steelers finally honored Melvin Ingram’s wish to be traded.
On Tuesday, November 2, the Steelers traded Ingram to the Kansas City Chiefs for a sixth-round draft pick, ending his short stint with the club. Ingram had inked a one-year deal with Pittsburgh after a prosperous nine-year career with the Los Angeles Chargers, seeing him garner three consecutive Pro Bowl selections (2017-2019).
Ingram’s stint in Pittsburgh ends with the following statistics: Six games, 10 tackles and 1.0 sack.
While head coach Mike Tomlin was respectful in his comments regarding Ingram’s trade, saying, in part, “I enjoyed working with Melvin,” he also took a slight jab at his former player on his way out.
“What the team needs is first and foremost,” Tomlin told reporters, via WPXI’s Jenna Harner. “But from a team perspective, it’s better to have volunteers than it is to have hostages.”
Tomlin on Ingram: “I enjoyed working with Melvin. it just didn’t work out the way we envisioned, the way he envisioned.”
More on trading Ingram: “What the team needs is first and foremost. But from a team perspective, it’s better to have volunteers than it is to have hostages.”
Steelers Eventually Bite on Chiefs Trade
It became clear early on that Ingram wouldn’t return to dominant pass-rushing form in Pittsburgh. As a result, trade calls started coming in for the 32-year-old outside linebacker.
However, the Steelers initially rebuffed the Chiefs’ trade offer for Ingram, as reported by NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala on October 28.
“As RapSheet reported this weekend, OLB Melvin Ingram does indeed want out of Pittsburgh after seeing a reduction in his playing time,” said Kinkhabwala. “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?”
However, a trade market just never materialized for the veteran pass-rusher.
Although Ingram’s tenure clearly didn’t work out for either side, Tomlin was complimentary of his time coaching his former outside linebacker.
“I enjoy working with Melvin,” Tomlin said. “It just didn’t work out the way we envisioned, the way he envisioned. And sometimes it happens in free agency and that’s really, you know, culturally, why we build our team primarily through the draft.”
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Steelers Make Moves After Ingram Trade
Shortly after the Steelers’ decision to move on from Ingram, the team made a noteworthy move in signing Taco Charlton — who was on the practice squad — to the active roster. Charlton had previously been promoted from the practice squad for the Week 8 game against the Cleveland Browns.
Charlton played 10 snaps in the victory over the Browns on Sunday, October 31. He posted two sacks in seven games with the Kansas City Chiefs last season and is a former first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys back in 2017.
In 45 career games (12 starts), he has posted 11.0 sacks and 74 tackles across stints with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Chiefs and Steelers.
Although the starters at outside linebacker will remain T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, Tomlin had high praise for the 26-year-old Charlton.
“We’re excited about the growth and development of Taco,” Tomlin said. “We’re going to continue to give him opportunities along with Derreck to fortify depth at the outside linebacker position. Obviously, we’re extremely comfortable with the growth and development of Alex Highsmith.”
The Steelers made a few other transactions on trade deadline Tuesday — they just weren’t trades.
Pittsburgh signed veteran kicker Josh Lambo to the practice squad as a result of Chris Boswell being in the concussion protocol. The 30-year-old Lambo is a former Second-Team All-Pro kicker (2019) with the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, he was released by the Jaguars on October 19.
Pittsburgh’s other notable move for the day was the signing of Kahlil Davis to the practice squad. Kahlil happens to be the brother of Steelers defensive tackle Carlos Davis. Davis was a sixth-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and appeared in two games with the team last season.