The Chicago Bears’ decision to cut Leonard Floyd and sign Robert Quinn is a Super Bowl move.
Get your comments in now. The Chicago Bears cannot win a Super Bowl with Mitchell Trubisky. The Chicago Bears cannot win a Super Bowl with their offensive line. Yeah, yeah, I get it. Those positions are very important and Ryan Pace cannot sit by and ignore them.
That said, needing to upgrade the offensive line and address the quarterback position does not discount the fact that the Bears made a Super Bowl move by bringing in Robert Quinn. Quinn agreed to a 5-year, $70 million dollars deal with $30 million in guaranteed money.
The details of the contract are not available yet, but my guess is that this contract is mostly backloaded. The Bears had very limited salary cap flexibility and are still in the hunt for a quarterback to pair with Mitchell Trubisky. To help make room for Quinn, the Chicago Bears also released Leonard Floyd.
The Bears wanted to retain Floyd, but not at the $13.2 million he was scheduled to make with his fifth-year option. Pace is lucky an extension never worked out because, from a pass rush perspective, Quinn is ‘an upgrade over Floyd.
Floyd has been in the league for four years and has 18.5 sacks total for his career. He is coming off a three-sack season in 2019. Quinn, on the other hand, put up 11.5 sacks in 2019. That is 62 percent of Floyd’s career sack totals in just one season. Quinn has been on three different teams in the last three years but has been successful in all three. It should not take Quinn long to adjust to Chuck Pagano’s scheme. In his last three years, Quinn has recorded 8.5, 6.5 and then 11.5 sacks.
Now, let us imagine Quinn on the opposite side of Khalil Mack. Let us imagine a healthy Akiem Hicks. With these three players on defense, it will be difficult for teams to triple-team and double-team Mack on a regular basis.
For those concerned about his age (I was one of them), we should note he is only two years older than Floyd. Bringing in Quinn is a move that helps not only this season but also for a few years to come. This move also means the team will have more versatility in the 2020 NFL Draft. Taking an EDGE early was something I have been banging the drum for, but now the team could look to a different position in the second round instead. I am still for the best player available approach.
As I have said, adding Quinn is a Super Bowl move. This team should see their sack totals jump back up closer to 2018 numbers. Now, if only Pace can find a right guard and a quarterback to compete or take over for Trubisky, this Bears team will be back to Super Bowl contenders once again this season.