Ahead of the 2022 NFL trade deadline, the Philadelphia Eagles made a big splash to bolster their defensive line. They acquired pass rusher Robert Quinn from the Chicago Bears in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
Quinn was having a quiet season with the Bears as he had only one sack with eight tackles, two for a loss and three quarterback hits in seven games. But, in 2021, he was one of the best pass rushers in the NFL racking up 18.5 sacks while earning Pro Bowl and a spot on the All-Pro second team as well.
Philadelphia didn’t necessarily need another pass rusher ahead of the deadline as they were receiving excellent production from Javon Hargrave and Hassan Reddick, who have 7.0 and 6.5 sacks thus far this season. Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and T.J. Edwards all have at least 2.0 sacks on the season as well.
Alas, you can never have enough pass rushers and the deal was referred to as a win for the Eagles. However, Philadelphia has yet to find a role for the veteran. He has played only 49 snaps thus far in three games, which has some people questioning if the Eagles wasted a fourth-round pick on acquiring him.
While the results aren’t there right now and it is easy to question the usage, Philadelphia acquired Quinn on a short week as the Bears had played on Monday Night Football the week he was acquired. The Eagles also had a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Houston Texans, so he may not have the practice reps yet to play a full allotment of snaps.
Also, as stated earlier, the Eagles do have some depth on the edges. Quinn could have been brought in as insurance and to complement the players already in place, not replace him.
The biggest reason that this was still a win for Philadelphia was that acquiring him means that he didn’t end up on another contender’s roster. There were plenty of teams that were showing interest in him, so adding him to the roster, even at the cost of a fourth-round pick, is better than having to game plan against and block him as an opponent.
The Eagles’ front office must have a plan in place as Robert Quinn was just the first of a defensive line remodel as the team also signed veterans Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh this week to further bolster the front seven.
