NEWSLETTER
As fans, we look forward to the trade deadline because we love roster shakeups. Whether a team is using the deadline to rebuild or reload, we’re all a little extra when that date approaches on our calendars.
However, players don’t necessarily feel the same way. And in the case of Robert Quinn, it turns out that he was pretty peeved about the Chicago Bears shipping him off to the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of the NFL’s 2023 trade deadline.
No, seriously.
Patrick Finley of the Sun-Times has the scoop:
“Honestly, I was mad,” Quinn said, via Finley’s story. “Highly upset (with) just how it went down. You pull into the building and they say you’re getting traded. Especially in the middle of the year, it isn’t really a good feeling.”
Oof. Reading that stings. Especially since Quinn just broke the Bears’ single-season sack record. You’d think something like that might buy him some leeway. Instead, Quinn was sent packing in a way that didn’t sit well with him. Or his teammates, for that matter. Remember Roquan Smith’s reaction to news of the deal that came while he was meeting with the media. Ouch, babe.
Honestly, Quinn was probably deserving of a better type of notification of a trade. This isn’t to say I know the best way to go about breaking that news. But it is clear that this didn’t sit well with Quinn. Moreover, that it still bugs him is a sign that the Bears’ brass should probably re-think how it goes about doing business. Again, GM Ryan Poles did what he had to do for his team. And that is an important part to keep in mind here. However, maybe he could be more cognizant of the human element of a football player’s life. At least Poles seems to understand the human element better now than he might have before the trade.
In the end, I’ll always find the Quinn trade situation a tough one to fully grasp. On the one hand, Quinn was adamant about not wanting to leave via trade. He made it known at multiple different turns well before the trade deadline. Before training camp, Quinn said he wanted (and expected) to stick around.
And in October, Quinn doubled down on his stance by re-iterating his desire to stay. It was clear that Quinn wasn’t forcing the issue or leveraging his standing as a top dawg in the locker room to force a trade. But on the other hand, trading Quinn was the right thing to do for the Bears. The two ideas can exist on the same plane of existence. Ultimately, the trade serves as a cold reminder of how the NFL can be more of a business than an entertainment entity at times.
I would’ve never thought a trade from the NFL’s worst team to a Super Bowl contender would be so dramatic. But here we are.
