Former Player Exposes Steelers Trade Drama

Former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Melvin Ingram III provided some clarity on his brief tenure and swift exit from the team during the 2021 season.

Appearing on the I Am Athlete podcast, Ingram stated that he stopped showing up for team activities such as practices and games, hoping that taking a stand would spur the Steelers to initiate a trade as quickly as possible.

"I just kept it a buck," Ingram said. "I stopped going to everything. Call me when you trade me. I don't even play like that."

He joined the Steelers on a one-year deal worth $4 million in July 2021. It was Ingram's first stop after leaving the Los Angeles Chargers, where he posted a total of 360 tackles, 49 sacks and 14 forced fumbles after the organization selected him in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

The South Carolina product was coming off a 2020 campaign in which he failed to record a sack across seven contests while dealing with a knee injury, which resulted in multiple trips to the reserve/injured list.

Even so, Pittsburgh rightfully expected Ingram to come in and make an impact at some level given the fact that he made three-straight Pro Bowls from 2017 to 2019 while logging 24.5 quarterback takedowns over that stretch.

He got off to a hot start, as Pro Football Focus credited him with 15 pressures through Week 4, though his final appearance would come in Week 6 as Alex Highsmith's playing time continually increased.

After Ingram reportedly asked for a trade amidst his fall from favor, the Steelers gave in and dealt him to the Kansas City Chiefs at that year's deadline for a sixth-round pick in the 2022 draft.

After finishing with one sack in Pittsburgh, he matched that total in nine regular season contests with the Chiefs while tallying two during a playoff run that saw the team come up short in the AFC Championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ingram's most recent stop in the league came as a member of the Miami Dolphins in 2022 and 2023, where he put up a combined 7.5 sacks in 20 games.

The 35-year-old has yet to officially announce his retirement, though it's fair to assume that his playing days are over after not latching on with a team this past season.

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