Bears general manager Ryan Poles loves to build through the draft. He even said as much during his introductory press conference a few weeks ago.

There's just one problem with that: The Bears don't don't have a first- or fourth-round draft pick in 2022. They have just five picks, total, heading into 2022.

Trading future draft picks to acquire present draft picks would be counterproductive and counterintuitive. Therefore, the quickest -and most sensible- resolution is trading a rostered player.

The Bears are in a good position cap-wise, so a trade would primarily be for picks. But, there's one player who would create a ton of cap room and bring in a decent haul pick-wise if they were traded.

And that's Khalil Mack.

There's been a lot of hypothetical talk surrounding Mack and a potential trade over the last few days. Granted, all of it is speculation. No official reports have come out stating the Bears are thinking about moving on.

As much as it may hurt Bears fans, trading Mack makes sense. As long as the price is right, of course.

Mack wouldn't be a hard sell. He had 6.0 sacks through the first seven games of 2021 before succumbing to a season-ending foot injury. Whichever team trades for him will take on a semi-manageable cap hit of close to $18 million in 2022 and then $23 million-ish in 2023 and 2024. The only downside to trading for Mack is he's 31-years old.

The Bears will save a little over $6 million if they trade Mack before June 1, but they save $17.75 million if they trade him after that date. One kicker with that scenario is I'm not entirely sure if the $17.75 million includes Mack's $5.5 million roster bonus that is guaranteed on March 18. Either way, the Bears will save $12.25-$17.75 million if they trade Mack after June 1 and they'll save a little over $6 million if he's traded before March 18.

And it's plausible to assume Mack will generate multiple picks. The ceiling is uncertain, but it's not unfathomable that Mack would bring in at least one second-round pick, among others. He could even bring in a first-rounder.

The Bears wouldn't be without a viable pass rushing threat, either, because Robert Quinn is on the roster.

Quinn proved he can play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme last year. New head coach Matt Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams are going to want to run their 4-3 scheme in Chicago, however. That's a good thing for Quinn, because he played in 4-3 schemes throughout his career before coming to Chicago.

Eberflus' defenses feature four down linemen the majority of the time. He could certainly throw in some LEO packages for Mack in order to take advantage of his skillset and strengths, but that would mostly against what he wants to do.

Plus, Quinn showed last year that he's capable of effectively rushing the passer out of a two-point stance, so he could fill the hypothetical LEO role and then still be the guy to rush from the edge out of a three-point stance.

Quinn also showed that he can carry the Bears pass rush without Mack. 13 of Quinn's 18.5 sacks came after Mack went down for the year. Quinn also has much more manageable cap hits of $17-$18 million over the next three seasons. For the Bears, Mack is set to count over $30 million in 2022 before dropping to $28 and $26 million in 2023 and 2024.

Overall, he's a better fit for what the Bears want to do on defense. And based off Poles' introductory presser, player/scheme fit is a big priority for him.

Again, the Bears aren't in dire need of creating cap space, but they do need more draft picks in 2022. Trading Mack can certainly help solve the latter and Quinn's presence just may be the catalyst behind the trade.

Featured image via-Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports