NEWSLETTER
The brief buzz surrounding Robert Quinn’s possible placement on the trade block is dying down just a bit.
NFL reporters Kevin Fishbain and Ian Rapoport are pumping the brakes on that chatter:
The Bears are not currently shopping Robert Quinn, per source.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) April 27, 2022
Following up on this from yesterday: The #Bears are not currently shopping pass-rusher Robert Quinn, source said. Quinn referenced some uncertainty in his interview and other teams have been monitoring, but Chicago is not shopping him. https://t.co/zlC42pydb8
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 27, 2022
It doesn’t take much to grasp why there would be some pushback here. Putting it out there that they aren’t shopping him could be as simple as an attempt to nudge teams to step up their offers. Public pressure can often lead to teams going the extra yard to take a deal across the the finish line. I suppose the Bears could be the ones wanting to slow this train, as they could currently view a trade as unlikely. And if that is the case, making it public that a player is on the block after said player said he wasn’t looking to go anywhere would necessitate such a maneuver.
In any case, we’ll continue to monitor the situation. Because, as Rap points out, teamster monitoring Quinn’s availability. And while the Bears could wait it out and deal Quinn at the NFL’s trade deadline next autumn, an inspired team could get a leg up on the race by pushing through a winning offer now.
The rest of our original post is as followed underneath.
After skipping out on voluntary workouts last week (for body maintenance purposes), Robert Quinn was at Halas Hall on Tuesday to accept the Brian Piccolo award. Quinn was an important part of the 2021 Chicago Bears team in so many ways.
But how much longer Quinn will be in Chicago is up-in-the-air. Especially with NFL Network Ian Rapoport dropping this nugget about teams showing an interest in trading for the Bears’ star pass-rusher:
Interesting. Robert Quinn was in Chicago today meeting the new staff and spending time with #Bears coach Matt Eberflus. But teams are sniffing around on him for a possible trade. One of several veteran names being discussed. https://t.co/pXvlZlr1oF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 26, 2022
That Rapoport reports teams are “sniffing around” for a Quinn trade is significant on several layers. Firstly, it is notable because it comes hours after Bears GM Ryan Poles made it known that he still wants to add draft pick capital for this weekend’s NFL Draft. Secondly, this comes nearly two months after the team already sent stud sack artist Khalil Mack to the Chargers for a second-round pick that gave the Bears a second top-50 selection.
Moreover, it comes at a time when teams are realizing that they might want to pivot to trading for an established veteran before ultimately finding out that their draft alternative won’t be available.
Rapoport doesn’t name-check teams in the tweet, but – at least in the abstract – there isn’t a competitive team that wouldn’t want to add a player coming off breaking the Bears’ single-season sack record, and generally balling out as Quinn did. And that Rap said teams (as in plural) have eyes on the situation suggests that this could be the time to strike, especially if 2022 is being viewed as a reset year by the new regime.
There isn’t much to be gained in terms of cap space in a Quinn trade, by the way. Moving him before June 1 would create $4.425 million, but would come with a dead money hit north of $12.7 million. But if Poles was able to snag a second-rounder for Mack while eating some cap dollars, doing it again with Quinn is a realistic possibility. Stay tuned.
