The unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles added another key piece to their defense on Wednesday, swinging a trade with the Chicago Bears for standout defensive end Robert Quinn, a three-time Pro Bowler.
“Eagles traded for DE Robert Quinn, per source.”
A big move for Philly. Quinn is a seasoned veteran and one of the top pass-rushers in the NFL. There were actually trade talks surrounding him before the season even began as Chicago heads into a rebuild of some sort.
More recently, reports of Quinn being shopped on the open market came out a week ago, but there were concerns that his large 2023 cap hit of $18.2M would be too big of a hurdle for interested teams. Now, he heads to an Eagles team that is firing on all cylinders.
RELATED: 3 best trades Eagles must make before NFL deadline
Per Ian Rapoport, Philadelphia is only giving up a fourth-round pick here in exchange, likely because of the cap hit incurred next season:
Nick Sirianni's group is a perfect 6-0 and ranks fifth in total yards allowed per game. While Josh Sweat is among several pass-rushers who have done a solid job, Quinn is a proven player in this league and just set the Bears' single-season sack record in 2021 with 18.5. Despite being in his early 30s, Quinn is still capable of doing serious damage and will undoubtedly help this defense.
Quinn started his career with the Los Angeles Rams and also enjoyed stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. He's been traded away a lot and expressed a desire to stay in Chicago during training camp, but knew that it was out of his control:
“The only thing I thought of was hopefully my résumé or my production from last year gives me a little weight to keep my foot in the building,” Quinn said in April, via ESPN. “At the end of the day, it's a business. Again, you see Khalil Mack getting traded. Again, it's just a business. Don't dwell on it, too crazy.”
The Eagles definitely got a good one here and Robert Quinn now gets a chance to compete for a ring.