The Eagles are loading up for a potential stretch run.
On the team’s first full day back from the bye week, the Eagles traded for 32-year-old edge rusher Robert Quinn, sending a fourth-round pick to the Chicago Bears in exchange for the former All-Pro according to ESPN.
Quinn had 18.5 sacks in 2021 and earned second-team All-Pro honors and his third-career Pro Bowl nod. He has one sack this season while playing 68% of the Bears’ defensive snaps. He figures to slot in as a rotational edge rusher with the Eagles, who lost defensive end Derek Barnett for the season after the former first-round pick tore his ACL in the season opener.
In Barnett’s absence, the team has used young edge rushers Patrick Johnson and Tarron Jackson behind starters Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick and veteran Brandon Graham. The Eagles have typically valued having veteran depth pieces behind their starters on the edge with players like Chris Long and Ryan Kerrigan in recent years. Now having Quinn and Graham on the back end of the rotation fits that mold.
Quinn is due $12.8 million this year, $13.9 million in 2023, and $12.9 million in 2024, but he has no guaranteed money left on his contract. This means the Eagles could release the veteran after the season without taking on any dead money. If they want to keep him through next season, both sides could justify a restructuring that gives Quinn more guaranteed money in exchange for salary-cap flexibility.
The 12-year veteran, who has also played for the Rams, Dolphins, and Cowboys, has been up-and-down in terms of production the last few years. He had just two sacks and six quarterback hits in 2020 before his standout 2021 season. The year before, he had 11.5 sacks and 20 quarterback hits. The last time he managed back-to-back seasons with double-digit sacks was in 2014.
