While the Kansas City Chiefs and general manager Brett Veach did a bang-up job of retooling on the fly and adapting to numerous changes this offseason, there may still be some additional work left to do. The club either improved or got younger (or both) at several key positions and although the draft selection of George Karlaftis does bring youth to the team's defensive end rotation, the case for a marked improvement is iffy.
After Melvin Ingram departed to Miami and Frank Clark returned on a restructured contract, Kansas City's veteran production is still rather underwhelming. As far as non-Karlaftis youth is concerned, Michael Danna's ceiling is low but his floor is high relative to completely unproven players such as Joshua Kaindoh and Malik Herring. Veach and company are taking not-so-calculated risks, so a steady, proven and quality defensive end would greatly help Steve Spagnuolo's front four.
That's where Robert Quinn comes in.
Quinn-to-Kansas-City buzz isn't anything new, and it's becoming more and more apparent by the day that a union between the two sides makes a ton of sense. The Chiefs ranked 29th in the NFL in sacks last season with 31, struggling to take down opposing quarterbacks with any bit of consistency. Meanwhile, with the lowly Chicago Bears, Quinn kept chopping wood and ended up with 18.5 of them. His age-31 season was one of the best of his career, earning him another trip to the Pro Bowl for his efforts.
Even with a spotty track record (two sacks in 2020 and single-digit sacks from 2015-2018), Quinn's 2021 campaign showed that he still has plenty left in the tank. He turned 32 in May and while that isn't necessarily ideal for a team acquiring a pass-rusher, his resurgence on a bad team suggests that he may age gracefully over the remainder of his contract. In a trade scenario, his next team wouldn't be taking on a sunk cost.
Speaking of that contract, Spotrac recently pointed out that Quinn's current deal is fairly team-friendly if a trade does occur. In a hypothetical swap with Kansas City, the Chiefs would be absorbing $12.8 million this year, $14M next year and $13M in 2024. Matt Verderame of FanSided added that the Chiefs wouldn't be adding any dead salary cap money to the books, thus making it "basically an annual team option." In the event that Quinn underperforms in 2022 or 2023, Veach could simply elect to not bring back the All-Pro for the following season. A built-in out with the opportunity for such a clean tie isn't very common for a player of his age nor caliber.
In terms of what the Chiefs can offer the Bears in a hypothetical trade, a combination of draft picks would likely come into play. In the first four rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft, Kansas City owns all of its own picks and has other compensation to work with. The club not only has an additional third-round selection entering the fold due to losing executive Ryan Poles to the Bears, but it also has another fourth-rounder from March's Tyreek Hill trade. Would there be a more poetic way to start trade negotiations than offering to send Poles the pick he ended up netting the Chiefs? No, and it isn't as if Kansas City has no other selections at its disposal.
It's entirely possible that the Chiefs' defensive end picture works itself out without calling for help via trade. Karlaftis is a hard-working player who has a very clear floor as a good run-defender and a solid threat to rush the passer. Danna can play quality run defense and contribute a few sacks as well. Both Kaindoh and Herring are oozing with potential and if either pans out, that changes the equation. On the other hand, Clark will almost surely be gone after the 2022 season and betting on lottery tickets to turn into jackpots is oftentimes a fool's errand that results in fool's gold.
Trading for Quinn can not only help raise the floor and ceiling of the group now, but it can also provide at least some level of stability for either or both of the next two years. For those reasons — as well as many others — Veach should consider picking up the phone and dialing up his old friend.
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