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ESPN Staff Writer- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
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ESPN Staff Writer- Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University. You can follow him via Twitter @RichCimini.
The Los Angeles Rams are trading two-time Pro Bowl pass-rusher Robert Quinn to the Miami Dolphins, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The Dolphins are sending a midround pick to the Rams, likely a third- or fourth-rounder, a source told Schefter. The Rams and Dolphins are also swapping late-round picks.
Quinn had a resurgence in 2017 after moving from defensive end to outside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme of new Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Quinn tallied 8.5 sacks over 15 games. In the two seasons prior, he played in just 17 total games after deciding to undergo back surgery.
For the Rams, dealing Quinn was motivated largely by opening up salary-cap space; he is set to cost more than $25 million toward the cap over the next two seasons. The Rams are still responsible for the proration of Quinn's initial signing bonus, which is now a little less than $1 million. But in trading him rather than cutting him, they were able to gain an additional midround pick -- which they gave up in last week's trade for All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters.
Quinn instantly became a fixture for the Rams after being drafted 14th overall out of North Carolina in 2011. In seven NFL seasons, all with the Rams, he had 62.5 career sacks, 20 forced fumbles, 218 tackles and a blocked kick.
Quinn may not be the same explosive edge rusher who generated 40 sacks from 2012 to 2014, but he stayed healthy last year and played some of his most productive football late in the season, with six sacks in his last five regular-season games.
With the Dolphins, Quinn will return to a 4-3 system and thus transition back to his roots as a defensive end.
He will join Cameron Wake to give Miami a pair of proven pass-rushers. It was a weakness last season, as the Dolphins finished 26th in the league with only 30 sacks, including 10.5 by Wake.
The Dolphins will have one of the NFL's most expensive defensive lines, with Ndamukong Suh ($26.1 million), Quinn ($12.4 million) and Wake ($9.6 million) counting $48.1 million -- approximately 27 percent of the projected salary cap.
The addition of Quinn fuels questions about Suh's future. His cap charge is the largest of any nonquarterback, and the Dolphins could decide to move on after three years. They'd have to make a decision by March 19, when $8.5 million of his $17 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed. Currently, there's no guaranteed money remaining on his contract and they can recoup a $17 million cap savings by designating him a post-June 1 cut.
For the Rams, the Quinn trade could signal a complete makeover of their linebacking core. They'll probably need two new outside linebackers, with Connor Barwin set to become an unrestricted free agent. And they could cut ties with inside linebacker Mark Barron, which would save them $22 million toward the cap over the next three seasons.