The Chicago Bears sent shockwaves across the NFL landscape when they traded Khalil Mack for a couple of draft picks. It showed Bears fans that the team is likely opening the window for 2023 and using 2022 to load up and get things in the right direction.
Considering Mack is gone some fans may be thinking that a firesale is coming. That could mean that stud pass rusher Robert Quinn is going to join Khalil Mack. While anything is possible, it seems unlikely that Robert Quinn will join Khalil Mack.
3. Robert Quinn does not save as much, or cost as much
In trading the Chicago Bears, they were trading salaries more than the player. Mack was making $30 million against the salary cap, which put him at a standing that only star quarterbacks were making more.
The Chicago Bears are still eating about $24M of that, but the key is that they save $28.5M next year, and $26.5 million the year after. Again, that is like the team has a high-end quarterback on salary.
For Robert Quinn, the hits are not as drastic. This year, he is on the books for about $17.1M. The following years are $18.2M, and $17.2M, so roughly $10M less than what Mack was making. That is much more bearable. Beyond that, they would only save $4M this season, compared to the $6M that they saved moving on from Mack.
So, Quinn is costing about $13M less than Mack and would save them $2M less than what Mack just did. Where fans can say that the compensation of Mack was impacted by his salary, you could not say the same thing about Robert Quinn if he were traded.