Robert Quinn wants to stay with Bears, but knows ‘this is a crazy business’

Robert Quinn set the Bears’ single-season sack record in 2021. There’s a chance it could stand as his final season in Chicago.

Interested teams have been gauging the possibility of acquiring Quinn via trade, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Quinn was in Chicago on Tuesday meeting the team’s new coaching staff, per Rapoport, but such a meeting doesn’t preclude the Bears from trading the 31-year-old edge rusher.

If Quinn is traded, he wouldn’t be blindsided by such a move, especially after the Bears already shipped his elite running mate, Khalil Mack, to Los Angeles.

“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 Tuesday, 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.”

Quinn’s numbers stand as proof he’s still an effective defender who logically carries significant value. It’s not just sacks, either. Quinn ranked 12th among all defenders in quarterback pressures in 2021 with 57 (per Next Gen Stats), registering a QB pressure percentage of 16.2, the fifth-highest mark among all defenders with a minimum of 200 pass-rushing snaps. Quinn’s sack percentage was the second-highest in the NFL, trailing only Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt.

Quinn is an impact player most any team would like to have rushing the passer. That is, if the team is looking to contend immediately.

Chicago’s offseason roster remake seems to have shifted its target for 2022. Quinn doesn’t like to use the term “rebuild,” but that seems to fit what the Bears are undergoing at this point.

“I don’t think that’s the right way we should phrase it, because people in — the guys in the building are professionals and I think everyone carries themselves to high expectations,” Quinn said. “I believe, me personally, no player is better than me, and I believe everyone else should carry themselves the same way. So to say, ‘a rebuild’ is, I guess, a funny word. I think it’s just getting guys to believe who they truly are, and perform at their high level of expectations, because everyone’s talented enough, because they’re here. Now you’ve just got to go prove it.”

Quinn has certainly proved his worth to the Bears, especially with his 2021 performance. But with his 32nd birthday coming in May, his timeline might not fit Chicago’s plans, and the Bears could help speed up their rebuild by moving him for draft capital.

Quinn would prefer to stay in Chicago, but knows it’s not in his control.

“I didn’t expect to go anywhere, or want to go anywhere, but again, this is a crazy business,” Quinn said.

Chicago general manager Ryan Poles hasn’t said the Bears are looking to move Quinn, but with the draft just two days away and multiple holes to fill, Quinn appears to be an ideal trade chip. We’ll see if that leads him to a new destination.

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