The Miami Dolphins agreed to terms with pass rusher Melvin Ingram on a one-year, $5 million contract, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday.
Miami is continuing its offseason spending spree in an attempt to get back in the AFC East mix a year after two other divisional teams -- the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots -- reached the postseason. The Dolphins have made a number of moves to acquire and re-sign impact players in an effort to bolster its depth on both sides of the ball.
Ingram made three consecutive Pro Bowls as a defensive end with the Chargers from 2017-2019, and had at least seven sacks per year from 2015 to 2019, hitting a career-high 10.5 sacks twice.
Kansas City acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2022 sixth-round pick in the middle of the 2021 season, and he quickly became a valuable piece of the defense. The Chiefs had gone 4-4 to start the season and were ranked 29th in the NFL in total defense before acquiring Ingram, partially due to multiple injuries on the defensive front. With Ingram on the roster, the Chiefs turned things around and finished the season on an 8-1 run, culminating in a playoff run all the way to the AFC Championship Game.
Ingram started six regular season games for Kansas City, making 15 tackles and a sack. He then started all three of the Chiefs' playoff games, adding five tackles and two postseason sacks. While his sack numbers weren't as high as earlier in his career, his quarterback pressures were still essential to the Chiefs' pass-rushing unit.
Gregg Rosenthal's Top 101 NFL free agents had Ingram listed at No. 25 overall.
Miami has had a busy offseason so far, looking to improve on its 9-8 record from 2021 by bringing back as many defenders as possible and adding firepower for the offense. Likely to play opposite Ingram this season will be defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who re-signed with the Dolphins on a four-year deal. Also re-signing with Miami were defensive tackle John Jenkins, linebackers Duke Riley, Brennan Scarlett and Elandon Roberts, and cornerback Xavien Howard. So with the move for Ingram, Miami has so far kept the majority of its existing defense intact during the offseason, while still bringing in new faces to improve it.
The Dolphins have also made news with a series of big offseason moves on the offensive side, including a blockbuster trade for wide receiver Tyreek Hill, and the signings of wide receiver Cedrick Wilson and running backs Chase Edmonds, Sony Michel and Raheem Mostert, adding targets for quarterback Tua Tagavailoa to work with this fall.
