Roquan Smith was seen on the practice field Tuesday
The Chicago Bears Family Fest went on with the presence of a disgruntled brother, per reports. Linebacker Roquan Smith requested a trade in a report that broke early Tuesday morning. The Bears’ elite tackle maker had been holding out since the start of training camp.
The Bears placed Smith on the PUP list as a seemingly act of good faith. Smith has been involved with the team despite the holdout. However, the honeymoon period of the romanticized “hold-in” appears to be over now. Even so, practice started for the Bears Tuesday with Smith watching, according to reports.
#Bears linebacker Roquan Smith is present at family fest at Soldier Field.
— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) August 9, 2022
Smith leveled some heavy accusations a the Chicago Bears
Smith’s comments in a letter released by Ian Rapoport seemed to dispel the cozy narrative between Smith and the Bears management that seemed to be the case when Smith was put on the PUP list.
“Unfortunately, the new front office regime doesn’t value me here. They’ve refused to negotiate in good faith, every step of the journey has been “take it or leave it,” according to the letter.
#Bears All-Pro LB Roquan Smith has requested a trade. pic.twitter.com/x4vmOMhROt
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 9, 2022
Smith complained that the deal he was sent would be bad for himself and other linebackers in the league. Rapoport reported Smith was offended the deal included “de-escalators.” De-escalators work like the opposite of a performance incentive. A player’s salary can decrease if certain performance measures are too low.
More frustrations:
— The backloaded offer, which wouldn’t make him the highest paid in actual salary, included proposed de-escalators that not a single player out of the 94 non-QB, $15M+ contracts has. He was offended.
— The deal would hurt the LB market as a whole. https://t.co/E3tqyU6eAe— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 9, 2022
The Chicago Bears need to address this situation soon
Smith is easily the best player on the Chicago Bears roster heading into the 2022 season. The Bears need to find out whether or not they can find common ground with Smith or not. If they can’t, they should look to trade for the 25-year-old. And if they can’t get a good offer like a first-round pick for Smith, why should the Bears rush to extend him with an expensive contract?
This needs to happen before players on the roster have to deal with this distraction every day. The de-escalation offer will already look bad to players in the Bears locker room. General manager Ryan Poles needs to respond immediately before possibly creating a toxic culture in his first year.
Smith might be the best current player on the team but that’s no reason to rush out and overpay an off-the-ball linebacker. The Bears have a weakened roster as the new regime rebuilds the team and they’re not competing for a championship this year anyways. As advanced stats show, it’s not certain if Smith is the type of linebacker that will fit in the Chicago Bears’ new defense.
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