Roquan Smith Continues To Call Ryan Poles A Liar

Roquan Smith left the Chicago Bears a little over a month ago. It ended a run with the organization that was equal parts illustrious and erratic. The linebacker was easily one of the best the Bears have employed since the exits of Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. At the same time, he’d developed a reputation for being a distraction with his multiple holdouts, hanging out on crowded boats during a pandemic, and sitting out games for undisclosed reasons. His exit from the team culminated with him calling GM Ryan Poles a liar in all but name.

That hasn’t changed. Smith is settling in nicely with his new team, the Baltimore Ravens. They’re 9-4 with one of the best defenses in the league. The linebacker is positioning himself to make that big-money contract he wants so badly. It’s no secret Smith wants to be the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL. Reports from multiple insiders after negotiations broke down in the summer said the Bears’ offer was fair. Obviously, Smith disagreed. He made that abundantly clear again during his interview with Dan Pompei of The Athletic.

The animosity is hard to miss.

Last offseason, after the Bears hired Ryan Poles as their general manager and Matt Eberflus as head coach, Poles called Smith to his office. Smith said Poles told him he would build Chicago’s offense around quarterback Justin Fields and defense around Smith. That meant giving Smith, the Bears’ record-holder for tackles in a season, a contract that was “top of the market” for off-ball linebackers.

“I took him at his word,” Smith says. “But life happens.”…

…But negotiations with the Bears did not go the way Smith thought they would. After being moved to weakside linebacker in the offseason, he stayed away from practice for the first month of training camp and two weeks in, requested to be traded.

“I thought Poles would ship me out, but he told me numerous times, ‘I don’t plan to trade you at all,’” Smith says. “So I was like, ‘I guess I won’t be going anywhere.’ He said we’d talk at the end of the season.”…

…Smith and Poles met face-to-face and exchanged a series of emails. He says Poles asked him to accept de-escalators in his contract that no player making more than $15 million a year has in his deal. The contract offered also was very backloaded, according to Smith. “It was,” he says, “a slap in the face.”

Roquan Smith is the Raven’s problem now.

There is no denying he is a very good player. He has been a key addition to Baltimore’s defense. The problem is little has changed. He still doesn’t have a contract extension. While the Ravens insist it is their goal to get this done, the reality is Smith will have the same demands of them as he did of Poles and the Bears. He wants to be the highest-paid player at his position. That won’t be easy, considering two things. Smith still doesn’t have an agent, and quarterback Lamar Jackson doesn’t have a new contract. He will get top priority from the organization, as he should. They could franchise tag him, but that would open the door for Smith to leave in free agency.

Meanwhile, the Bears don’t seem to miss him too much. Rookie Jack Sanborn has stepped up in a big way as the new starting middle linebacker. He may not be the athlete Roquan Smith is, but he’s already turning into a similar presence. It offers some validation for Poles not caving into those lofty demands in the summer. The GM doesn’t believe in paying premium money to non-premium players. It’s worth noting the Bears’ run defense averaged 156 yards per game allowed with Smith on the field. Since he left, that number has dropped to 130.8.

Yes, he’ll be missed in the locker room. That said, nobody can say the Bears lost a key to the championship puzzle by trading him. Smith is entitled to his feeling, whether they’re true or (more likely) exaggerated.