Report: Bears Not Shopping Robert Quinn

Reports Tuesday suggesting Robert Quinn was still being shopped around appear to be exaggerated according to NFL Network.

The Robert Quinn trade front is apparently more quiet than originally appeared.

When Quinn talked to media at Halas Hall upon receiving the Brian Piccolo Award for veterans, he seemed uncertain about whether he'd be traded but was hopeful he'd stay in Chicago.

However, about the same time NFL Network's Ian Rapoport had tweeted teams "are sniffing around on him for a possible trade."

On Wednesday, Rapoport backed off a bit on that by saying the Bears are not shopping Quinn and said teams have merely been "monitoring" his situation.

Bears GM Ryan Poles earlier at the owners meetings in March had said the topic of a Quinn trade hadn't come up.

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

Quinn has the biggest Bears cap hit of players still on the team at $17.14 million in 2022. According to Overthecap.com, the Bears could save $12.9 million against this year's cap if they cut Quinn after June 1 while being forced to eat $4.24 million in dead cap.

Of course, then they would be out their best remaining pass rusher.  

Quinn did not attend the minicamp last week and neither did two other defensive linemen, newly acquired edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and veteran Mario Edwards Jr. He made it clear he does want to remain a Bear and those were his thoughts when they traded edge rusher Khalil Mack.

"The only thing I thought of was hopefully my resume or my production from last year gives me a little weight to keep my foot in the building," Quinn said.

The resume included 18 1/2 sacks, a team record.

Quinn has played in the new Matt Eberflus defense. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli used this scheme with Dallas in 2019 and Quinn came away with 11 1/2 sacks, his most at the time since 2014.

The only other player considered  or mentioned in trade talks still on the Bears roster is quarterback Nick Foles. GM Ryan Poles said at the owners meetings they would like to trade the veteran backup.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven