Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach spoke to the media for his end-of-season availability on Tuesday.
This was the first time the media had spoken with Veach since the team had acquired Melvin Ingram in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers back at the NFL’s trade deadline. With Ingram slated to hit free agency, Veach was asked to take us back through the entire process leading up to the eventual trade. That includes a look at what happened when the Chiefs had Ingram in for a visit during the 2021 NFL offseason.
“I think as you guys know when we went through that free agency process. . . sometimes some of these accomplished players are really patient,” Veach explained. “If they don’t get exactly what they want then they’d rather just wait and kind of let things unfold and kind of give their bodies an extended period of time. I don’t think some of these guys are in a rush to do the offseason stuff either because they’ve been there, done that. We certainly had an interest in Melvin (Ingram) and we had a chance to bring him in later and we couldn’t get something done. But there was mutual interest, I think, and as we got into the season and we were going through some injury stuff with Frank (Clark) and Chris (Jones), we were always keeping the eyes and ears open to strengthen that defensive line room. Particularly, the depth at that defensive end position.”
Eventually, when the opportunity came for the Chiefs to acquire Ingram in trade, they remained vigilant in their pursuit. It went even better than the team could have hoped.
“Just doing the work that our staff does through the season, just keeping the phone lines open there, we were able to communicate with Pittsburgh there,” Veach said. “They kind of hinted that they might do something there and we stayed aggressive and kept calling back. We were able to bring (Melvin Ingram) here and obviously, he had a tremendous impact. He solidified the depth at that position, he allowed Chris (Jones) to play more inside, more of his natural technique. Then, his leadership and his approach elevated everyone else’s game. I don’t think it was a fluke that the defense just took off from there. We had a really good string of late-season football and I think he was a huge part of that.”
As Ingram is slated to once again become a free agent, Veach offered his outlook for the future. He anticipates that things will go very similarly for Ingram in free agency this year as they did last season.
“With Melvin, I think it’ll be very similar to last year,” Veach said. “I think he’ll be a guy that will want to take his time. He’s played a lot of snaps and he’s still a productive player. He can still help a team and he would still be of interest to us. I think he’ll go through the process of taking some time, getting with his family, seeing where he wants to play and what makes sense to him. But I do think if a guy like Melvin decides he wants to come back and play, I think that we would be at the top of his list and that’s something we’ll work to keep a dialogue open with.”
The door isn’t shut for Ingram in Kansas City, but it sounds like it will mostly come down to whether he wants to be back in 2022 or pursue other offers elsewhere.
