NEWSLETTER
I can only speak for myself, but I’m enjoying my time off during the bye week. The fresh ocean air has done wonders for me, as have the multitude of food and drinks I’ve put into my system over the last few days. When I get back from the bye, I expect to be re-charged and ready to finish the season on a high note. And awaiting us when the calendar flips to Week 15 will be a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, Robert Quinn won’t be part of the welcoming party. That’s because the former Bears pass rusher (who was traded to the Eagles before the NFL’s trade deadline) is going on IR:
It has been a rough go for Quinn in Philadelphia. Quinn has played just 70 snaps in five games (21%), hasn’t collected a sack or tackle-for-loss, and has just two quarterback hits. It’s not as if Quinn was wrecking things while with the Bears this year. But it was fair to expect a bounce-back to come his way after leaving Chicago for Philly. After all, that tends to happen when veteran players leave teams with losing records for teams atop the standings. Instead, not only has Quinn been struggling, he’ll miss at least the next four games. And, yes, that includes the Week 15 showdown against the Bears. NFL Network Tom Pelissero reports there is optimism that Quinn will be back for the playoff push. And I suppose that is a silver lining in this whole thing.
But, also, this reminds us why Bears GM Ryan Poles was willing to deal Quinn at all. Admittedly, some of this will be seen as hindsight. It is easy to write about a trade looking better after the player involved in the deal goes on an IR stint. Hindsight makes this look like grand larceny. The Eagles traded real draft capital and have yet to see a return on investment. But from the Bears’ side of things, Poles stuck to his plan despite some skepticism from the outside. Frankly, it is admirable when you consider he made the trade after watching his team wallop the Patriots on Monday Night Football. And, at the end of the day, it turns out to have been a prudent move for the short and long term.
Even still … the Bears need to find a proper replacement for Quinn. Trevis Gipson, Dominique Robinson, and Al-Quadin Muhammad have yet to fill Quinn’s shoes. And the result is that defensive end has shot up to the top of the Bears’ list of offseason needs. If Poles doesn’t upgrade at the defensive end spots, then we might not look at the Quinn trade so glowingly down the line. Thankfully, there appear to be options to make upgrades throughout the defensive line. Maybe it’s Will Anderson (off the edge) or Jalen Carter (in the middle) via the NFL Draft. Perhaps it is Daron Payne (as a DT) or a veteran defensive end (Justin Houston? or Yannick Ngakoue?) in a loaded defensive line class of free agents. Whatever road the Bears choose, remember that it was the Quinn trade that got them moving in the right direction.
