3 reasons the Chicago Bears should not trade Mack or Quinn this offseason

New Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles heads into the offseason with $28 million in salary-cap space to spend on free agents according to Overthecap.com.

The Chicago Bears can grow their cap space to as much as $46 million if Tarik Cohen and Nick Foles are cut before June 1st, along with releasing Eddie Goldman and Danny Trevathan after June 1st.

The Chicago Bears can use that money in free agency to improve the roster and address its many problems.

The Bears are switching back to a 4-3 base defense so they will need to get some different talent at defensive tackle. Chicago currently has just two wide receivers under contract. The offensive line needs to be upgraded. The Bears can get better at the tight end position. The secondary needs an upgrade.

All those problems cannot be fixed in free agency. The Bears will also need to use the draft to improve the roster. Plus, the draft is the avenue Poles wants to use to acquire players.

The problem for Poles is that he enters the 2022 NFL Draft with just five draft picks and no first-round pick. The Chicago Bears’ previous regime traded this year’s first-round and fourth-round pick to the New York Giants in last year’s draft as part of the trade package to move up to select quarterback Justin Fields.

It would be nice if Poles had a few more draft picks to acquire younger, talented players.

One solution Chicago Bears pundits and fans love to suggest is trading pass rushers Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn for draft picks. The idea is that both are in their 30’s and may not have a lot of productive years left. It would be better for the Bears to get what they can in a trade for those two since Chicago’s chances for contention are slim and there are so many roster holes.

It is a valid idea to solve this lack of draft picks problem, but it is not the best solution. There are a couple of reasons why Ryan Poles should hang onto his two prized veteran pass rushers.