3 Players Bears Must Consider Trading at 2022 NFL Deadline

The Chicago Bears are clearly a team with an eye toward contending in the future, even if they've provided sparks of hope to have a good year in 2022.

As the November 1 trade deadline approaches, the Bears have been about as good as could have been expected. With a young offensive line and an unproven group of receivers supporting a developing Justin Fields, the Bears were expected to struggle.

The fact that they are 3-4 seven games into the season should be an encouraging sign for their coaching staff.

But it shouldn't be a reason for the Bears to be buyers at the deadline. Instead, they should continue to look to leverage veterans who aren't a part of the long-term vision to stockpile draft picks.

If the season were to end today, the Bears would have the 18th-highest valued collection of picks, per Tankathon's power rankings.

It wouldn't hurt to ship off these veterans and see if they can improve that ranking.

Edge Robert Quinn

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 09: Robert Quinn #94 of the Chicago Bears warms up before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on January 9, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

We'll start with the most obvious one because Robert Quinn has been involved in trade rumors since all the way back in the offseason.

With the deadline less than a week away, Quinn's name has resurfaced. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated named the Eagles, Titans, Ravens and Rams as teams that would possibly have their eye on Quinn in the coming days.

Those three all make sense, as they are all potential playoff teams who could benefit from punching up their pass rush.

Dealing away the 32-year-old Quinn would not only bring back a valuable draft pick, but it would help them clear some of Quinn's contract from the books. He has cap hits of more than $17.1 million in each of the next two seasons, although he carries dead cap charges of $8.5 million in 2023 and $4.2 million in 2024.

Thus far, he's only registered one sack, but he had 18.5 last season and could ostensibly increase his number in a different system.

The Bears have young pass-rushers who could use Quinn's reps to improve this season. Dominique Robinson and Trevis Gipson are worth much more long-term than Quinn and Al-Quadin Muhammad.

OT Riley Reiff

AP Photo/Steven Senne

Chicago Bears offensive tackle Riley Reiff (71) after an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

It might seem counterintuitive for a team with a young quarterback to trade away a serviceable veteran tackle. But this is about maximizing the trade assets they have and letting the young players develop.

The Bears have been content to let Braxton Jones (left) and Larry Borom (right) handle the starting tackle duties. They've had their struggles but continue to show signs of improvement.

Jones has ranked 21st among all tackles graded by PFF, and Borom continues to get better.

That leaves the Bears with a veteran in Riley Reiff who could help a contending team with crucial depth that could matter in the playoffs.

Reiff was a fine fill-in for the Cincinnati Bengals last season, giving up four sacks in 711 snaps and earning a 67.3 grade from PFF. For the Bears, he's merely a fallback plan when they need to get the best evaluation of Jones and Borom as possible.

For a contender, he's a safety net in case of injury or an upgrade for a few teams with struggling offensive lines.

Either way, Reiff is more valuable to a contender right now than a rebuilding team like the Bears.

RB David Montgomery

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FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 24: David Montgomery #32 of the Chicago Bears carries the ball during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 24, 2022 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

The circle of life is vicious at the running back position in the NFL. David Montgomery has been the bell cow back for the team when healthy since being drafted in 2019.

Now, as he approaches the end of his rookie contract, that status has been threatened by Khalil Herbert. Through seven games, Montgomery has just two more carries than his counterpart.

The problem is that Herbert has 464 yards on his 75 carries (6.2 yards per attempt) while Montgomery has just 308 (4.0 per carry).

The difference between the two with the ball in their hands is getting harder to ignore. It's also hard to justify the Bears handing Montgomery a hefty contract next season when he's 47th in Player Profiler's true yards per carry metric.

Instead, the Bears should go ahead and turn over the backfield to Herbert full-time and pursue a trade that may send Montgomery to a team that is looking for running back help.

The Bears could ultimately use the pick to find a cheaper alternative to Montgomery next season who will eventually take over the backfield from Herbert and the cycle will continue.