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The Pittsburgh Steelers got burned in the Melvin Ingram Experiment. As far as anyone outside of the organization is concerned, Ingram was made fully aware of exactly what his role would be: a rotational piece to starters T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Still, Ingram signed on the dotted line the day before training camp — even with options to sign elsewhere (Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs).
In a matter of three short months — or maybe three long months for Ingram — the outlook went from, “It’s just a place that I felt like I could call home, a place that I could come in and fit in” to I don’t fit in; I want out. Though the linebacker never spoke publicly on the situation, multiple reports over several days each pointed to Ingram being unhappy with his lack of play time in Pittsburgh.
Perhaps Ingram felt he could beat out Highsmith for the starting role, which could be what motivated him to sign with Pittsburgh over Kansas City or Miami. But it’s neither here nor there now (well, technically, it’s there in Kansas City and not here in Pittsburgh).
If You Build It…
The Steelers are a club steeped in tradition — for better or worse. Part of that tradition is building rosters through the draft. Ingram is a prime example of why Pittsburgh prefers new rookie blood rather than the old blood of free agency. Ingram proved to be sloppy seconds, and, in the end, the team chose a content locker room over a disrupted one. This is the value gained in the trade with the Chiefs — if they land a decent player with a 2022 sixth-rounder (conditional), that’s a bonus.
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During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin explained why Pittsburgh does what it does. “I enjoyed working with Melvin,” he said. “It just didn’t work out the way we envisioned, the way he envisioned, and sometimes that happens in free agency.”
“That’s really, culturally, why we build our team primarily through the draft. When you do business with guys from the time they’re 20 and 21, you get an opportunity to be a part of their growth and development; they get an opportunity to buy into your system of ball or their roles in it at a very young age. It just makes the division of labor thing a more fluid thing. Free agency makes it more cumbersome at times to get to know on a lot of levels as you’re preparing to play games.”
For every James Farrior, Kevin Greene or Kimo von Oelhoffen, players who came to Pittsburgh and went to work — there’s a LaGarrette Blount, Steven Nelson, Melvin Ingram, players who whined until they got their way. There’s no place for them in Pittsburgh.
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