Possible Robert Quinn Trade Partners Rated
Robert Quinn seems to be duplicating what he did in his first Bears season, and that can't be good for the defense or for GM Ryan Poles as trade deadline approaches.
It might not be Quinn's fault—or it could be—but either way there's no doubt his value in the trade market would be diminished by a season far different than last year's franchise-record 18 1/2 sacks.
According to a report by Jason La Canfora for the Washington Post, Poles is "shopping" Quinn and he attributes this to multiple front office sources around the league.
La Canfora also said this in the offseason, but nothing came of it at that point. The Bears needed help on the edge then, with several younger players involved at defensive end. They kept Quinn.
Now, the Bears pass rush with Quinn hasn't been piling up sacks anyway, and they struggle against the run. However, their levels of pressure on quarterbacks has been among the highest in the NFL.
While not wanting to address the issue of trades interrupting what success the Bears are trying to achieve this year, coach Matt Eberflus did comment on the possibility of deals occurring.
"I would just make a general statement there that we’re always going to do what’s best for the Chicago Bears and our franchise, not only now but for the future. That’s what we’re always going to do," Eberflus said.
They could always use a draft pick but finding the right team for a trade of this sort is going to be difficult. Not only do they need a team that wants a capable veteran defensive end, but must find a way to cope with Quinn's bigger cash figure against their cap.
Quinn's absence would give the Bears cap relief, about half of the $12.9 million in annual cap cost that would be due with a deal at the trade deadline. On the other hand would immediately cost them about half of the annual $4,237,500 in dead cap space.
However, the positive in this is $12.8 million of Quinn's cost this year is salary. That could soften the acquisition cost. It would allow an aquiring team to find a way to turn some into bonus money to go against their cap in future years.
Most likely, teams would want to make the Bears absorb some of the cost.
And at this point, the return for the trade of a veteran might start at middle-round pick and drop to late-round pick.
Here are top theoretical options.
1. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals are tied with the Bears for 23rd in total sacks with 11, and are 21st in hurry percentage, but do get decent pressure at 10th overall in pressures percentage. They need to start getting home, though, and could use an edge rusher who had 18 1/2 sacks last year. Their defense blitzes in the top 10 among teams and they're only getting a marginal return so they could use Quinn to keep from blitzing so much and then start letting their secondary make plays on the ball rather than scramble to cover for the missing players who are blitzing. A key is it's possible a third straight non-playoff season could mean some heat for coach Kliff Kingsbury. Better win now in a competitive division with a good, young quarterback on his side. The Cardinals have less than $5 million in cap space available this year but next year have $24 million, according to Overthecap.com. So they could afford Quinn as a hired gun in the pass rush.
2. Los Angeles Rams
The Rams have Aaron Donald but they're not getting a comparable edge rush they had when they had Von Miller or Leonard Floyd. They were Quinn's original team, but were in St. Louis then. They have 12 sacks, which is tied for 20th and is one more than the Bears. They are middle of the pack in terms of pressure percentage and hurry percentage according to Sportradar. L.A. has had the approach of "to heck with the future, just get the players in to win now." The Rams have the complementary cast to win now if they tweak a few spots. This could be one of those spots, but cap space can be a problem. The Rams only have about $7 million in cap space available for next year and less than $5 million for this year according to Spotrac.com.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
The injury loss of T.J. Watt made the Steelers a potential target for improvement on the edge. They have only 12 sacks, one more than the Bears. They are not even getting much pressure, as Sportradar puts them at 29th in terms of pressure percentage and 30th at hurries, which is getting the QB to throw too soon or flushing him out of the pocket to throw. Better yet, they have $7.3 million under the cap available this year and are 10th in cap availability next year at $34.2 million according to Overthecap.com. Need and availability are high for the Steelers, who could remain in the playoff hunt with a few changes. This type of move isn't necessarily something Pittsburgh has done over the years, but the value could make dealing away a middle or later draft pick possible.
4. Cincinnati Bengals
No one is happy with a 3-3 record after going to the Super Bowl and one way to shake it up would be to improve their pass rush. The Bengals have only nine sacks on the season, tied for 28th in the NFL, and are 23rd in hurry percentage. Trey Hendrickson has 2 1/2 sacks, Sam Hubbard 1 1/2, second-year player Cameron Sample has one. The Bengals are sixth in money available in 2023 and could easily eat the money involved with a restructuring because they have $52.34 million available next year under the cap.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
Ryan Poles' connection with the Chiefs is always something to consider at trade time. The Chiefs always seem to be in the market for bolstering their defensive front heading toward the playoffs. They are not necessarily in drastic need of getting more heat as a team with 14 sacks and in the top 10 in pressure percentage but as a team that goes deep into the playoffs they know the value of extra edge rushers for postseason. Having that extra edge who can get home and keeps everyone else at the position fresh is invaluable. The Chiefs have $26.9 million available under the cap next year and could find a way to handle this contract.
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