People started to wonder after the Chicago Bears throttled New England last Monday if GM Ryan Poles would choose to avoid making any trade deadline deals. Then mere days later, he shipped Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 4th round pick. The latest evidence is that Poles remains committed to his plan to completely rebuild the Bears roster. That inevitably led to speculation on if Quinn would be the only move. Maybe Roquan Smith could be next.
That might confuse some people. The linebacker isn’t in his 30s. He is still young and can be a building block for the future. The problem is his contract. Smith failed to reach an agreement on an extension with Chicago. Rumors persist his demands were high. He wants to be the highest-paid linebacker in football. Poles wasn’t prepared to meet that price. Thus Smith decided to play in 2022 without a deal.
Now NFL insiders Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport, and Mike Garafolo discussed whether the Bears might field trade offers for him. Rapoport is uncertain but believes a deal is possible, if unlikely. It was then that Garafolo chimed in with the most interesting bit of information. The asking price Chicago has set for Smith.
Two 1sts for Roquan Smith are steep.
Off-the-ball linebackers aren’t as crucial to defense these days as pass rushers or cover cornerbacks. There is also the contract issue the other team would be inheriting. So either Poles believes somebody will be willing to meet the price, or he set it high enough to where he knows nobody will touch it. The Bears GM has repeatedly said he desires to ensure Smith stays in Chicago long-term. That said, he has a responsibility to keep the phone lines open.
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As Garafolo said, not all 1st round picks are created equal. Two picks in the bottom of the 1st would be much easier to give up than two in the top 15. Right now, there are four teams with multiple 1st round picks in the upcoming 2023 draft. Unfortunately, one of each sits in the top 15. So that seems unlikely. Then again, trades are always a negotiation. Maybe another GM could haggle Poles’ price down to a 1st and 2nd or 1st and 3rd. They could also try a player swap, offering somebody the Bears might covet at another position.
Roquan Smith has strengthened the Bears’ bargaining power with how great he’s been this season. He has 78 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and two interceptions through seven games. He’s played like an All-Pro. Asking for two 1sts suddenly doesn’t sound so crazy. We’ll see if somebody makes a push to snag him before November 1st.
Roquan isn’t going anywhere unless a team offers a minimum of a 1 (top 15) and a 2. Just prepare for him to be franchise tagged if a contract agreement can’t be worked out. I’m good either way although I would love to see him retire a Bear.
Roquan has been on and off every week. Deal this dude and let his big mouth flap for someone else.
Just Trade the guy already …
Bears are fucking retarded – just pay roquon
Sometimes it is better to keep what you have and know then to speculate on what could be better. RS is playing well, the Bears have a large salary cap edge in their favor, so why not keep him and build around him? Make him a decent offer next year and see where the chips fall. He is a team captain now, he seems to be pretty “happy” with things as far as the team goes, Poles appears to be a lot more grounded than Pace so again keep him and let the Bears have a franchise mlb again.