The big winner from the Chicago Bears Khalil Mack trade

The Chicago Bears sent shockwaves across the NFL landscape when they announced the trade of Khalil Mack for a second-round pick and future late rounder. There are plenty of takeaways from this decision, but one thing that fans will not have to work hard to envision is what the edge rushers will look like without Mack.

Mack missed ten games last season, so for the final stretch, they were starting Trevis Gipson across from Robert Quinn. Ryan Poles was obviously watching tape from last season and he clearly saw enough from Gipson to think that he could be a starter for the foreseeable future.

The reality is that he played 489 snaps last season and is entering year three. Any smart General Manager would say that he needs to get at least 500 snaps after playing so well last season. He could be a young and rising player.

If the Chicago Bears kept Khalil Mack, they would certainly hope that he would stay healthy. If that were the case, there is no chance that they could get Gipson on the field, even if they took Mack and Quinn off of the field more for him.

It would get too messy and would stunt the growth of Trevis Gipson. While the Bears could still trade Robert Quinn, that seems less likely. Mack was the player causing the logjam and without him, the team knows that they can be just fine with Gipson and Quinn.

Last season Robert Quinn played 755 snaps. That would be an increase of about 300 for Gipson from the season prior. Many could say that was earned, but those 300 snaps were awarded to Gipson after the Mack trade. Of course, he could lose that chance, but those extra snaps are on the table, and he surely should be the one to fill them.

Considering Gipson had seven sacks last season, there is a case to be made that he could hit double digits in 2022. If the Chicago Bears can move on from Mack, and still have two edge rushers with 10 sacks, one being much cheaper than Mack, it would make the trade even more understandable.