In 2013 he had 18 sacks!
The man was on the verge of setting a NFL record for sacks.
He has had 55.5 sacks in his six-year career so he's still averaged 8 to 9 sacks a year.
Resigning him made very good sense but the bar was set so high by himself that we kind of expect him to regain that at some point.
However he had a severe back injury that required major surgery and rehab.
I think Quinn, his teammates, the coaches in the front office all realize this is pretty much a make-or-break year for him.
Is he able to do it physically?
Does he still have the mindset to do it?
Is he subconsciously or consciously aware that he could be permanently injured if he plays too hard?
At the minimum we're looking at a restructure unless he really starts tearing it up.
The question that comes to my small mind Soul Surfer is why would Quinn restructure a deal when he will be the highest paid Ram in 2018 season? RQ will earn close to 11 million this season & is due to make a near 25 million the next 2 seasons. As you pointed out
RQ has been a proven 43 right DE in the NFL. RQ is only 27 yrs old. One of the hardest defensive positions in the NFL to find.... is a good pass rushing right DE in the standard 43 defense. RQ knows that & his agent knows that so why would he take a pay cut when the NFL is digging scrapping the college ranks & all other NFL teams to find a proven 43 "D" Right DE.?
RQ has shown thus far in Training Camp, Pre season & thru wk 5 that he is not worth his current rate of salary cap hit as an OSLB'er. Quinn as of yet has shown no indications that he is trending upwards in his performance. Fact is Quinn has not had a full sack since wk#1 & has no sacks the last 2 games after starting all of them. RQ has only 1 tackle in the last 2 games. Might I say trending downward?
RQ's back up Matt Longacre who was a UDFA & earns the lowest end of the pay scale has 5 tackles the last 2 games & has logged 2 sacks. Barwin the other starting OSLB'er has 11 tackles compared to 4 tacks of Quinn. Barwin also leads the team in sacks & makes approx 8 million less than RQ. Then there's the fact that the Rams have 3 very interesting edge rushers in the recent Snead/McVay draft rookies Samson Ebukam/ Ejuan Price & promising 1st yr Carlos Thompson all under contract in 2018. All priced economy.
Rams can save over 24.5 million in 2018 & 2019 seasons with the release of RQ. That's a extra large chunk of cap $$ that could go to sign Aaron Donald, Sammy Watkins, John Sullivan, Lamarcus Joyner, Conner Barwin, Trumaine Johnson, Alec Ogletree & Nickell Robey-Coleman....all of which are playing much better than Rob Quinn.
