It was a little over a year ago that the Miami Dolphins sent fourth- and sixth-round draft picks in last year’s draft to the Los Angeles Rams for edge rusher Robert Quinn. Now it’s the Dolphins sending him to the Dallas Cowboys, presumably for draft picks. (Although the exact parameters of the trade aren’t known at this time.)
Sources: The #Cowboys and Dolphins have parameters in place on a trade to send pass-rusher Robert Quinn to Dallas. There are still minor issues to work out with Quinn’s agent, but the #Cowboys are expected to land a big piece on the edge of their defense.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 28, 2019
When Miami traded for Quinn, it sent some mixed signals as the Dolphins were in the midst of selling off other parts (Jarvis Landry), suggesting they were somewhere close to tanking mode, while taking on others, like Quinn. This offseason, it seems Miami is squarely in the camp of trying to get a top-five pick in the 2020 draft.
Dallas, on the other hand, is doing everything they can to build a contender. Especially while they have a starting quarterback (Dak Prescott) on a rookie contract, the NFL’s version of the Golden Goose. However, Prescott will be in the last year of that pact when he suits up for the Cowboys this year. Or, perhaps this is Dallas’ attempt to get all the pieces in place on both sides of the ball before they lock Prescott up with a new, long-term. much higher-priced agreement.
This season will be Quinn’s ninth in the NFL since being taken with the 14th overall pick by the Rams in the 2011 NFL Draft. Quinn registered double-digits sacks for three straight seasons from 2012-2014. Including a career-high 19 in 2013. The two seasons following that he ended the season on IR. When he’s on the field, he’s still a highly productive player. However, he hasn’t matched those numbers from his three-year peak.
In total, Quinn has 69 career sacks with 256 tackles (77 of which were tackles behind the opponents’ line of scrimmage) and 123 hits on the quarterback.
Quinn has played both outside linebacker and defensive end. He projects as the Cowboys’ starting right defensive end. It is also expected he will restructure his contract as part of the trade. He’s scheduled to have a cap hit of just under $13 million, the last season of his current deal.
