Is Roquan Smith’s contract status concerning?
Roquan Smith has yet to sign his rookie scale deal with the Chicago Bears. At this moment he may report to training camp later in the week. Is this concerning?
Ever since the new NFL CBA, rookie scale contracts have been some of the easiest negotiations in all of sports. Rookies are appointed salary by their draft slot, and the contracts essentially come in a cookie cutter form. Push down, sign the line, boom, done.
Not so fast, says Roquan Smith. The number eight overall pick for the Chicago Bears 201 8 NFL Draft has yet to sign anything so far as the team enters the week in which they are supposed to report to training camp. While Smith has not said that he will hold out, he has also said that he will not report to camp until he is officially a member of the Chicago Bears.
#Bears first-round LB Roquan Smith is not with the team as the rookies report for training camp today, sources say. It’s not officially a holdout until the veterans are due on July 19, but Smith doesn’t have a deal yet. So he’s staying away until it happens.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 16, 2018
With this being a rare situation, it brings the question, is there reason for concern here?
While this is rare, this is something that happened recently with Joey Bosa and the San Diego Chargers. Bosa did not sign his deal until August 6th and missed the beginning of training camp while he and his team worked out some offset language. It is worth noting that when Bosa returned to practice, he suffered a quick injury and missed the first four weeks of the regular season.
More from Bear Goggles On
- Franchise tag and transition tag windows open for Chicago Bears and NFL
- How the Chicago Bears can control the running back market in 2023
- The Chicago Bears can own the city of Chicago moving forward
- Chicago Bears NFL Combine Preview: Quarterback
- 7 best free agent tackle options for Chicago Bears
It is also worth noting that he came back to put up 10.5 sacks in 11 starts. Not bad for a rookie who missed most of his offseason.
So, this could be a similar situation to Smith. While it does not guarantee injury, and it could push Smith back a week or two in terms of being in shape. However, once he gets on the field, it feels like no concern.
Where it could be concerning is to the teams goodwill. The Chargers had a bad reputation and it got worse with the Bosa impasse. Names such as Ladanian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Eric Weddle mentioned similar discrepancies to Bosa and his issues.
This is not a reputation that the Chicago Bears want. The Chargers struggle enough finding free agents. Nobody wants to play for a cheap ownership who does respect veterans or high pick investments. If this is the reputation that sticks to the Bears it will kill them. This is already a team that overpaid arguably every free agent this offseason to assure signings.
So, in the case of Smith, it does not feel like a big deal. What he is arguing for is likely minimal and should be resolved soon. He will get on the field. However, for the sake of the Chicago Bears, the hope is that no ill will or questionable rumors emerge from the negotiation tables.