3 Reasons the Chicago Bears should trade Khalil Mack or Robert Quinn
One of these two will net the most draft capital in a trade for the Chicago Bears
When we look at the current roster, only a few names stand out as players who can be traded who will actually net the Chicago Bears a return worth the trade. David Montgomery for example is not worth trading because running backs do not bring a return in value due to their positional value already being low. This is why we hardly see running backs selected in the first round any longer — especially the earlier part of the round.
Akiem Hicks is no longer under contract. Eddie Goldman looks to be a cut candidate. Should the team trade him, what type of return would they see? Maybe a max of a fifth-round pick? Nick Foles is a name to look at, but the Chicago Bears couldn’t even trade him last year, what type of draft compensation would they see this year? I am guessing nothing better than a sixth-rounder.
This is why, if Ryan Poles truly wants to add draft capital to the Chicago Bears five picks they currently have for the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft, then one of Robert Quinn or Khalil Mack would need to be traded. The question is, what is the return in value for the two? Recent reports from Brad Biggs said that Khalil Mack would probably not bring back a first-round pick. I call bull on that one. He might not bring a return of a top-15 draft pick, but a bottom-half first-rounder is what I fully expect to see for a guy who flirts with defensive player of the year consistently.
Mack hasn’t been as good the last couple of years, but he was on pace to be dominant in 2021 before his foot injury. He played seven games and finished with six sacks. He was on pace for 15 sacks this season. Honestly, it’s probably good for Robert Quinn he went down with an injury as it might have been helpful to Quinn to secure the Bears’ single-season sack record of 18.5 sacks last season. Through seven games, Quinn had 5.5 sacks on the year.
If Khalil Mack is likely to return a late first or early second-round pick along with maybe a third-round pick similar to the Von Miller trade, then it seems to be worth it for a team looking to rebuild through the draft and shift to the offensive side of the ball. Robert Quinn wouldn’t bring back a first, but he too could bring back a second-round pick and maybe a fourth or fifth-rounder to pair with it.
Look, no one wants to trade Khalil Mack, not even me. He’s one of the best players I have seen in a Chicago Bears uniform. Even Robert Quinn made watching Bears football enjoyable last season. However, this is a business decision and we have to remove any emotion from it. Ryan Pace built the team through the defense, we need to see this team built through the offensive side of the ball.
I have faith that Ryan Poles and assistant GM Ian Cunningham are the guys to do just that. If they want to keep Mack and/or Quinn, that’s fine. If they want to trade one of them, these are the reasons to back that decision. Personally, I’d prefer to keep the consistency of Mack over Quinn, but if trading Mack gives you the chance to land Tyler Linderbaum or maybe Chris Olave, the trade seems worth it.