Chicago Bears may be developing a smokescreen for Robert Quinn tradeRyan Heckmanon April 27, 2022 at 2:44 pm

Another avenue the Bears could take to land additional draft capital, though, is by trading star pass rusher Robert Quinn. Lately, Quinn has been in the rumors because the Bears have gotten calls about his trade availability.

Multiple sources have tweeted that Chicago is not currently shopping Quinn, though. That seemed to shut down any speculation in regards to a possible trade — or did it?

The Chicago Bears may be playing this Robert Quinn situation like a fiddle, only to deal him right before the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs went on 670 The Score Wednesday morning (just after the 7:08 timestamp) and did not completely rule out a Quinn trade, noting that he would think the Bears could get a mid-round pick in exchange for the pass rusher.

People need to remember one thing about draft week, and that is this: Everything you hear or read this week is going to come with an agenda. Nothing said is certain until the draft is over.

So, if the Bears are attempting to shut down any potential talk of a Quinn trade, know that this very well could be their ploy to try and drive up his value.

Now, the value for a soon-to-be 32-year-old pass rusher probably won’t reach much higher than a fourth-round pick, so Biggs nailed it on the head. He’s also coming with a contract that’s set to count over $18 million and $17 million against the cap in 2023 and 2024.

Any team that traded for Quinn could get out of his contract next year with only an $8 million loss or $4 million in dead cap for 2024.

Should the Bears actually be open to trading Quinn, Poles should strongly consider a fourth-round pick. Having already traded Khalil Mack to try and get younger and acquire more picks, Poles has no reason why he shouldn’t do the same with Quinn.