Chicago Bears, Roquan Smith, inching towards resolution?

As new information is starting to leak, it seems as though the Chicago Bears and their rookie linebacker may be getting closer to reaching a contract agreement

Even during the Chicago Bears first preseason, all questions were on Roquan Smith. While he was unlikely to play, the Smith holdout has already entered Joey Bosa territory regarding length, and he has officially missed his first career game because of it.

In a dispute that started off quiet and between both sides, it has begun to leak into the media. Both teams have taken their shots, and now it seems as though reports have the two inching closer together.

First reports on this dispute came from the mouth of Matt Nagy, who admitted that the helmet rule and the issues surrounding guaranteed money connected to the rule were this issues.

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At this point, many sided with the Smith. Smith should not lose guaranteed money for breaking a subjective rule while he is helping the Chicago Bears win in any way he can.

However, with public pressure now on the Bears, the team was quick to bounce into the media and tell us that this is not the full story.

The team mentioned that Smith got his helmet rule protection, similar to Tremaine Edmunds. However, on top of that demand, he also asked for the voids in his guaranteed money to be taken out for conduct that done off of the field.

Now, public sentiment swings more to the Bears side. If Smith were suspended for PEDs, illegal drugs, or domestic violence, it makes sense that the Bears would not want to continue to pay his guaranteed salary.

After hearing the Bears side and hearing the Smith side, we should all know the reality is likely right in the middle.

During the game, NBC speculated the language was related to plays on the field, but not necessarily the helmet rule. Reports then came after the game to match this idea. Rumors are the Bears met Smith’s demands with the helmet rule. Smith responded to the Bears by agreeing that conduct off of the filed is worthy of losing guarantees.

However, after inching towards each other, it appears as though penalties and suspensions on the field, but not connected to the helmet rule are at issue here. For example, a late hit or a hit out of bounds.

So, we are not quite home yet. However, both sides have budged a bit. We are getting passed the complicated stuff and getting to the nitty-gritty of the matter. It should not be long now, as it should take one small step for each side. We will see who what domino is next to fall in this story soon.

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