Report: Dolphins signing former Chiefs defensive end Melvin Ingram

According to NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, the Miami Dolphins have agreed to terms with former Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Melvin Ingram.

Terms of Ingram's deal with Miami are not yet known.

UPDATE at 1:53 p.m. Monday: According to NFL.com, Ingram is signing a one-year deal with Miami that is worth $5 million.

Ingram, 33, was traded to the Chiefs from the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick just before the 2021 mid-season trade deadline.

After spending nine seasons (and making three Pro Bowls) with the Los Angeles Chargers, Ingram had signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Steelers that paid him the minimum NFL salary ($1.1 million) plus a signing bonus of $2.9 million spread across 2021 and four void years from 2022 through 2025.

Unhappy because he was seeing less playing time than he wanted in Pittsburgh, Ingram requested a trade. The Chiefs — who had pursued Ingram before he signed with the Steelers — were more than happy to give up the sixth-round pick and take on the remainder of his 2021 salary, which was just under $600,000.

So after he played in just six games for the Steelers, Pittsburgh ended up eating $1.1 million of Ingram’s contract as dead money in 2021 — plus an additional $2.3 million this season when the four void years escalated into their 2022 salary cap.

Through nine regular-season games in Kansas City, Ingram accumulated 15 tackles (7 solo), a sack, a forced fumble, five quarterbacks hits and 11 pressures. But he immediately became a leader on the defense — and after his arrival, the team went 8-1 as the defense allowed just 16 points a game.

The Chiefs were widely expected to re-sign Ingram for 2022 — and on the Monday following the NFL Draft, they placed a rarely-used unrestricted free agent contract tender on him. This tender — which under Section 9(b) of the 2020 Collective Bargain Agreement had to be at least $1.8 million (110% of his $1.1 million base salary and $585,000 pro-rated signing bonus from 2021) — would have allowed the Chiefs to sign him for the tender amount for 2022, unless Ingram was able to sign with another team before July 22.

But now that Ingram is signing with the Dolphins, the Chiefs could earn an additional compensatory draft pick in 2023 — something that could not have happened without Ingram’s UFA tender.