Teams have been inquiring about a trade for Chicago Bears pass-rusher Robert Quinn ahead of the 2022 NFL draft, and the Kansas City Chiefs could make sense as a potential trade partner.
Quinn was recently in Chicago to receive an award from the team. During the visit, he had a chance to speak with the new coaching and front office staff. While it doesn’t appear that the Bears are actively shopping Quinn, his comments to the media suggest that he’s not certain about his future in Chicago.
“Sucks to say but I’ve been through many [coaching changes] in my career,” Quinn said via Chicago Sun-Times beat writer Jason Lieser. “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. . . I didn’t expect to go anywhere or want to go anywhere, but again, this is a crazy business.”
NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport then added the news that teams had been “sniffing around” about Quinn’s availability.
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
So why would Kansas City make sense as a trade partner? Well, first, some things that Brett Veach mentioned during his pre-draft press conference didn’t sit right. He suggested that part of the reason the team traded Tyreek Hill was so that they could get involved in the veteran pass-rusher market.
“You’re faced with a decision, do you dip into the older, veteran pass rush market, and if you do that, how are you going to pay Tyreek,” Veach said. “And then how does Tyreek feel about that? If you do the Tyreek thing then you’re limited in regard to your resources being able to be spent on defense. Plus, the future, with that type of deal, would be impacted a great deal. So, when we took a step back and we figured ‘How are we going to get better on both sides’ and that’s why we decided it was best for us and best for Tyreek getting that contract. . .”
Well, Hill got his contract, but the Chiefs never got their veteran pass-rusher. Maybe they were in on a few players since or maybe they’ve been working the lines trying to acquire a veteran via trade.
Factor in that Bears GM Ryan Poles came from Kansas City and could look to make a deal with his former team. Then add in the fact that the Chiefs are one of the few teams with the excess draft capital and the cap space to afford Quinn’s multi-year contract, it makes a lot of sense.
Quinn is 31 years old and has three years left on his contract. He’d cost the acquiring team just under $13 million in 2022, just under $14 million in 2023 and just under $13 million in 2024, but he’d carry no guaranteed salary should the team ever cut him. The acquiring team could even restructure his 2022 contract to help lower his cap number if they wanted more flexibility.
Getting down to the football of it all, Quinn isn’t just a fit for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense, but he was drafted by him back in 2011 when he was the head coach of the St. Louis Rams. There is some familiarity there, albeit for a brief time very early in Quinn’s career.
Quinn is coming off a record season in Chicago where he recorded 49 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 18.5 sacks. It was probably one of the quietest 18.5-sack seasons because the Bears just weren’t a very good football team in 2021. It’s hard to expect Quinn to replicate those numbers, but he’d certainly make the pass-rush in Kansas City more formidable.
Should the Chiefs make a trade to acquire Quinn during the 2022 NFL draft, it might not cost them a significant amount of draft capital due to his contract. It’s possible that they could even send the Day 2 compensatory pick that the team received when Poles was hired by the Bears for Quinn.