The Chicago Bears might as well trade Robert Quinn now

The Chicago Bears and their record-holder for sacks in a single season might be headed for a breakup. Robert Quinn broke Hall of Famer Richard Dent’s 37-yeard-old single-season sack record last season when he recorded his 18th sack against the New York Giants.

The record-breaking sack came fittingly when Quinn sacked former Chicago Bears quarterback Mike Glennon. Quinn had a great 2021 season with 18.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl appearance after a disappointing 2020 season with the Bears.

His season was more impressive as he got a bulk of those sacks without fellow pass rusher Khalil Mack on the field.

Now Mack is with the Los Angeles Chargers after an offseason trade. New head coach Matt Eberflus is switching the defense from a 3-4 front to a 4-3 front. The Chicago Bears are in a full rebuild under new general manager Ryan Poles.

Back in May, there were rumors that Quinn wanted out. Now, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Quinn will not be at the Chicago Bears’ mandatory minicamp.

The Chicago Bears might be better off just trading Robert Quinn right now.

If Quinn is showing signs he wants to be anywhere but the Bears, then Poles might as well go ahead and pull the trigger on a trade. It would be nice to roll the dice and hope Quinn has another productive season to drive up his value at the trade deadline.

Since this is a rebuilding year and Poles has had no issue with dead salary cap money, he might as well go ahead and just get what he can for Quinn now.

There is speculation he could be a fit for the Dallas Cowboys. A reunion with his former team to be teamed up with Micah Parsons would make for a very potent pass rush for a team hoping to contend for the Super Bowl.

Quinn will be 32 at the beginning of the season so there is concern about how much he will have left in the tank. He did have some outstanding advanced stats last season to at least show he should not have much of a decline in production.

There is a risk that Quinn could have another subpar season. Consistency has not exactly been Quinn’s strength. Between 2012-2014, he had 40 sacks with the Rams but then he had 24 sacks from 2015-2018.

It might be best to not risk Quinn having similar production to his 2015-2018 seasons and that forgettable 2020 season.

It would be nice to get the same return the Denver Broncos got when they traded Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams. The difference between Miller and Quinn is Miller already had a Super Bowl ring that he was primarily responsible for winning.

Also, Chicago Tribune Chicago Bears beat writer Brad Biggs believes the Bears will not get anywhere close to what the Broncos got. He does, however, think that the Bears could still get a good return for Quinn.

Normally, a team does not want to trade away a star pass rusher, especially one that wants out. In this case, the Chicago Bears are rebuilding and can use as much draft capital as they can get. Plus, Eberflus’s defenses have more of a focus on getting a pass rush from multiple contributors.

Trading Quinn now would be a win-win for both teams. Winning is not something the Bears are predicted to do a lot of in 2022 so they might as well get them when they can.