A report emerged Thursday indicating the Commanders, particularly in the event of a Thursday-night loss, would be prepared to shop some of their veterans. But the Bears lost, which should bring one of their veterans’ statuses to the forefront.
Robert Quinn is both tied to a long-term contract — a five-year, $70MM pact that runs through 2024 — and said upon reporting to training camp he did not seek to be traded. That said, Quinn has been traded twice in his career. He also was rumored to be wanting another scenery change this offseason, with that report preceding an unexcused minicamp absence. At 32, Quinn does not profile as a cornerstone player for the Bears’ Ryan Poles–Matt Eberflus era. Teams were monitoring the 12th-year pass rusher earlier this year; interest still stands to come the Bears’ way. Will Chicago act on it?
The Bears should be expected to entertain interest that stands to come their way for Quinn. Poles has not shied away in remaking the team. Eberflus’ defense looks quite different from Sean Desai‘s 2021 unit, which housed the likes of Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman and Danny Trevathan. The Bears cut the latter two, traded Mack and let Hicks sign with the Buccaneers. This is a younger defense. The first draftee obtained via the Mack trade — safety Jaquan Brisker — has played every defensive snap for the rebuilding team this season. Acquiring another pick or two for Quinn would make sense, now that the Bears have slunk to 2-4.
Less than three weeks remain until this year’s trade deadline (Nov. 1), and the Bears may have cost themselves a bit in terms of value by holding onto Quinn this offseason. After a two-sack 2020, Quinn stormed back with his most productive year since his 2013 All-Pro season. He broke Richard Dent‘s single-season franchise sack record, moving the number to 18.5 during a campaign that did not feature much Mack (due to injury). In 2022, however, Quinn has just one sack and two quarterback hits in six games.
Interested parties will nonetheless surface, when considering contending teams’ injury tolls and the edge position’s value. The Broncos collected second- and third-round picks for Von Miller at last year’s deadline. While the Bears are unlikely to extract such a haul for Quinn, ESPN.com’s Bill Barnwell offered a scenario in which the Rams (Quinn’s original team) reacquire him for two third-rounders. The Rams have not been shy about in-season edge rusher augmentation, acquiring Miller and Dante Fowler at the deadline during Sean McVay‘s tenure, and have had a need opposite Leonard Floyd since Miller spurned their free agency offer to join the Bills.
The Chargers also make sense for Quinn, who would reunite with Mack in this scenario. Unlike Mack, however, Quinn was not with the Bears during Brandon Staley‘s Windy City stay. Still, Joey Bosa is out for at least two months and is not expected to be 100% again this season. The Bolts made Mack part of an extensive defensive reload effort, attempting to maximize Justin Herbert‘s rookie contract, and Quinn would be an upgrade alongside Mack. The Titans are down Harold Landry for the season and have seen Bud Dupree run into more injury trouble. Injuries would help determine other potential fits as the deadline nears.
Denver’s Miller haul would represent a (likely unrealistic) goal for Chicago. Younger Quinn versions went for fourth- and sixth-round picks (in 2018) and a sixth-rounder (2019). Leonard Williams went for third- and fifth-rounders at the 2019 deadline, to a non-contending Giants team, while Yannick Ngakoue fetched the same haul (in the second of his three career trades) during the 2020 season. Quinn’s 2021 production would allow the Bears to ask for an Ngakoue-type package for Quinn, though his age may lower the price. Thirty-something edges Melvin Ingram and Everson Griffen landed their teams sixth-rounders, and Carlos Dunlap brought the Bengals a seventh and O-lineman B.J. Finney. Quinn’s value is higher than those players at this point. Something in between the Ngakoue 2020 price and the Ingram-Griffen-Dunlap tier would be reasonable.
The Broncos also collected the haul they did because they ate $9MM of the $9.7MM remaining on Miller’s contract. The Bears, who took on $24MM in Mack dead money, could increase their compensation by doing the same. That would seem in play, given how Chicago has operated under Poles thus far. Draft compensation will be more important than a few million in salary in a clear rebuilding year. More than $8MM remains on Quinn’s $12.8MM base salary this season. He is tied to $13.9MM and $12.9MM nonguaranteed bases in 2023 and ’24, giving an acquiring team flexibility.
Expect Quinn trade rumors to re-emerge soon. He has 102 career sacks and should be one of the top players available at this year’s deadline. What other teams would make sense for the talented sack artist?
They should deal him for whatever they can get. He’s still a good player and seems to play better in a 3-4 anyway and Gipson and Robinson need to see the field more.
The problem is Robert Quinn has been a ghost this year. Last night it was Charles Leno’s turn to bottle him up. The Bears could’ve gotten a nice package for him over the offseason, but they gambled that waiting until the deadline would up his value, and it certainly hasn’t. He’d net a late round pick or pick swap, if he’s even tradeable at all.
This season should be all about developing guys for he future. Fields is not the QB to run Getsy’s offense. It’s supposed to be a West Coast style based on quick reads and throws. Fields is lost. They should pick up a QB off someones practice squad who fits the offense. Brisker,Gordon, Robinson, Gipson and Sanborn are guys who need to see the field more often. Quinn and Justin Jones aren’t going to be the future, Get anything you can and draft a QB Getsy can work with. I’m pretty sure that play last night wasn’t, You run over the middle and I’ll bounce the ball off some guys helmet and you run under it. And when Getsy calls the perfect play and Griffin was so far open I thought he had Covid he missed him by 20 feet. Herbstreit pointed out repeatedly where guys were” NFL open” and the ball should be out and Fields was sacked or took off running.
If Getsy can’t adjust his scheme to the QB he does have then he’s no better than Nagy and never should’ve been hired. Idk if Fields is the guy or not but I do know it’s too early to give up on him and I do know grabbing some random practice squad QB to fit the coach a year after trading up for Fields is terrible process. In hypothetical “him or me” I’m keeping Fields and sending Getsy packing 10 times out of 10. What has Getsy ever done? Planned a productive offense around a QB who was already on a HOF trajectory before he arrived.
All true but these guys didn’t draft Fields. They inherited him. I’m just saying that I’m pretty sure Nathan Petermann isn’t that guy and that spot could be taken by someone who is. I’m not totally sure what Relly Reiff is doing here either because watching Jones get run over time after time was painful. If they’re not going to play him deal him, Tons of teams are looking for OT’s. He might bring more than Quinn. With all the dead money they ate it’s not like they could afford another QB anyway.
Consider this list.
Great NFL QB’s from Ohio State.
1.
Yeah, I got nothin.
Exactly. System QB that basically played on NFL caliber team against college teams.
Same as any recent OSU QB s
You can say what you want about the Bears line but they’re young, and they’re going to get better. They gave Fields time to throw on many occasions and Fields just choked. Other than Braxton Jones who had a rough game, the rest were fairly solid and they are good run blockers. Now that Leatherwood is back they have 4 young Tackles so lets find a combination that works. Mustipher isn’t a very good C in pass pro and I’m not impressed a whole lot with Patrick either but i haven’t even seen him play a snap at C all year. Borom can play LT, Jenkins can play RT Leatherwood can play G they have options. It’s all about options. They also have some young talent on the practice squad so lets get on with it. Breathe Justin , Just Breathe. Yeah that’ll help.
Sorry, you know players stink when the stink. The Bears line is godawful. People have been talking about the Bears O line getting better year in and year out and same results. The Bears have maybe two OL that grade out well against the league (I believe that is Borom- believe it or don’t, and Jenkins. The rest is garbage). Put Brady behind that line and see what happens (and no I’m not saying Fields is anything like Brady). As for Getsy, he is starting to look like Nagy 2.0. A Good O Coordinator puts his QB in the best position to succeed, and not to throw the QB under a bus cause they did not draft him. I get that this is a rebuilding year, but throwing a potential starting QB to the wolves cause they ‘didn’t draft him’ is ludicrous and just puts the team’s development further behind the 8 ball as they then have to burn through more resources to ‘find’ their guy, who may or may not work out. Fields grade is incomplete, as he has to run for his life almost every passing play, and you hit any QB enough and they start missing open receivers.
Sorry, But he has to run for his life because the ball doesn’t come out on time because he can’t read defenses. There are a lot of plays where the guy is wide open but Fields is running around like a chicken, because that’s what he WANTS to do. Don’t worry about it, The way he runs into and over guys and the crappy late way he slides, he’ll be on IR soon enough.
Yeah, well again put Brady behind this line and he would forget what down it is.. oh wait…. Again, you hit any QB enough and they are going to be running for their lives and not seeing guys that are wide open. Fields looks completely demoralized (and pissed) every time he has to scrape himself off the field. Are there guys ‘open? I guess if by open you mean like 2 seconds after getting the snap and he has to make a perfect throw. Or if there a guy getting truly open Fields internal clock is all screwed up because when he does have time to make a throw its like a miracle was bestowed upon him. He has no trust in his O line, and I do not care what QB is back there, thats going to cause all sorts of issues.
Also it does not matter if the guy is open if he cannot catch the ##$% ball. If Mooney or Pettis could catch a ball consistently, the Bears win the last game.
He’ll fetch more than that coming off last year, especially since teams could talk themselves into him doing better on a team where he isn’t the only threat. What you’re suggesting is what Melvin Ingram cost last year, and it’s hard to imagine Quinn wouldn’t yield more of a return.
Not having Mack has put a lot more pressure on him. He’s been double teamed a lot. A team that needs DL help would know that’s at least contributing to some of his lack of production.
Actually, he has NOT been double teamed a lot. I do not know what Quinn’s issue is this years, but its not double teams. Even if he does get double teamed, there are many times he has not been and looks over matched by every OT he faces (which would explain why Jones was defending him easily in practice and preseason). Its been obvious enough that the post game shows have been calling it out.
It’s early to write fields off. Bears should pick up a veteran QB.
2 Thirds I would jump on that.
What intelligent GM would have interest in a player who is using the scenery as an excuse?
Footnote: Velus Jones shouldn’t be allowed to return another punt all year. He let the ball bounce like 5 times and gave Washington another 100 yds of field position by not making a fair catch, Not to mention he’s cost them 2 games because he’s fumbled. Next
Sounds like Green Bay material.
The Bears are playing NE next. They should just leave Fields there and take Mac Jones home with them. He’d be a ton better in Getsy’s system. Ironic footnote: If the Bears had just stayed put where they were in 2021 they could of drafted Jones and kept their 1st round pick this year. and their 4th. Ah Ryan Pace, still sticking it to the Bears.
I do agree that Mac Jones would probably fit the Bears’ current scheme better than Fields. It was confusing to me hearing the opinions of the commentary crew in the postgame advising Fields to just “be himself” and run more. The Bears seemed to have a few opportunities to get chunk plays in the passing game and Fields did not hit them. Maybe he’ll mature into a passer, but he is not at the moment.
The question becomes who needs to adapt-does Getsy need to adapt to Fields’ mobility and lack of passing acumen, or does Fields need to play more reps and learn to pass consistently? It’s probably a bit of both. The Bears should take this year to decide on Fields’ fit within the Getsy system, and next year either support him as he grows or focus on acquiring someone who can. Fields’ value right now is likely higher than before he puts on bad film; if the Bears are truly committed to a system over a player, maybe the unusual step of dealing Fields is not so unusual after all. These are questions that I do not have answers to.
Yknow how Brady, Manning, and Rodgers became Pro bowlers? I mean they are good QBs, but it helps greatly when you have a beefy O line that never lets a D player get a whiff of their jersey. Put any of these QBs in their prime behind the Bears O line and they would get so beat up they would miss ‘open’ screen throws. Fields may eventually look like David Carr, if this line stays as is.
So you want to see Mac Jones get destroyed behind this O line instead of Fields?
If the Bears can get anything worthwhile for Quinn do it, but I doubt they will get much unless the Bears can convince the receiving team that Quinn will be good next season but he is just bad every other season…lol