KC Chiefs: Jerry Hughes just made Melvin Ingram more expensive

The Houston Texans’ signing of Jerry Hughes likely just made Melvin Ingram more expensive for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Earlier this week, the Houston Texans added former Buffalo Bills edge Jerry Hughes as part of a massive reinvention of the team’s pass rush. Unfortunately for the Kansas City Chiefs, this latest signing is going to make their own target in Melvin Ingram that much more expensive.

Per NFL reporter Field Yates, the terms of Hughes’ new deal with Houston came in at $10 million over two years. That’s a surprising amount for a player who only had two total sacks last year for Buffalo in 17 games while playing over half of all defensive snaps. It’s also important to note that Hughes will be 34 years old in August.

Remember last year, Ingram ended up choosing the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency despite interest from the Chiefs and maybe others. The results there were minimal with a 1-year, $4 million deal, and it stood to reason that a similar deal should get things done again at some point with Ingram in 2022. Perhaps that’s no longer the truth.

Ingram is himself getting older (just turned 33) and it wasn’t as if last season was filled with production. The stat sheet doesn’t look great in ’21 for Ingram—he had two sacks as well—and his tenure in Pittsburgh was forgettable. That means teams are looking at his half-season in K.C. and hoping for strong results in his 11th season.

The downside here is that the Chiefs need Ingram (or someone) given how thin the roster still looks at defensive end. The Chiefs were wise to draft George Karlaftis in the first round, and a linebacker like Leo Chenal could be used as a designated pass rusher at times, but the Chiefs still need another reliable contributor to rotate given the uncertainty behind Karlaftis and Frank Clark.

Unfortunately, the Texans have decided to overpay for Hughes and in doing so, perhaps they’ve altered the market in ways that will make it more difficult (or at least more expensive) for the Chiefs to land Ingram.