Roquan Smith has requested a trade from the Chicago Bears. While most fans want for the extension to come, it may be a bit tougher than some will think. If the front office does decide to move on from Roquan Smith, there could be some merit.
Here are some reasons why.
4. Linebackers do not age well
It is not as easy as saying that the linebacker is the running back of the defense, but it is close. The reality is that both positions take the brunt of hits over and over again, and in that case, it leads to more injuries and a shorter career. Smith has been healthy so far, but recent history shows that paying linebackers has not been a great bet.
The biggest linebacker contracts in free agency have been CJ Mosley, Kwon Alexander, Joe Schobert, Kyle Van Noy, and Cory Littleton. These are just since 2019, and only Mosley is still on the team he signed with, partly because he sat out the pandemic year of 2020.
It is not like teams extending their own has worked out, either. Deion Jones, Jaylon Smith, Anthony Barr, Myles Jack, and Zach Cunningham were all signed by the teams that drafted them. Jones is the only to currently be on the deal that he signed without getting released. Of course, the Falcons are trying to trade him and will probably release him soon.
Lastly, only three linebackers drafted in round one since 2009 have been able to get an extension with the team that drafted them. Even Luke Kuechly was a no-brainer decision to extend and he retired early. Most of these deals made sense at the time, this is just the nature of the position. The odds are that any extension Smith gets will end with him getting released before the end of it.
3. Linebackers can be replaced easier than other positions
As noted in the previous slide, drafting a linebacker in the first round rarely works out. Even when it does, it can be short-lived. Still, there are plenty of good linebackers, so where do they come from? That is the reality, that you can find them cheap, and a lot of them are plug and play.
The Baltimore Ravens are a perfect example. They drafted Patrick Queen in the first round, and he is losing snaps to Josh Bynes, a veteran that is available every summer. Tremaine Edmunds is in contract negotiations similar to Roquan Smith, while fifth-round Matt Milano was already extended. Still, the first year after Milano was extended, he missed time.
The Packers signed De’Vondre Campbell last year as a free agent at a bargain price and he made the All-Pro over Roquan Smith. TJ Edwards and David Long are up-and-coming players and Edwards was a UDFA while Long was a sixth-round pick.
Bynes, Long, Edwards, Campbell, and Milano can be found every year. It is a deeper position and one where you can find healthy players with good instincts who know how to tackle. For as good as Roquan Smith is, the cost of him, compared to the cost of some of these other players is a big gap.
2. He is not this front offices player
This one is probably the most obvious, and it is the one that Roquan Smith noted early in his trade request message. Smith said that he loves Chicago, loves his teammates and is grateful to be drafted by the team. However, it was Ryan Pace that drafted him.
On the flip side, Smith does not feel the love and does feel as though he is looked at in the same light by Ryan Poles. That can make plenty of sense, Poles did not draft him. We have no idea what Poles would have done in the top ten of that draft, but based on his style, it may have been closer to Mike McGlinchey, or Kolton Miller due to the tackle being such a valuable position.
When you look at the Kansas City Chiefs, you see another team that is often known for finding linebackers in the middle rounds, or even in free agency. Matt Eberflus surely loved his time with Sean Lee and Darius Leonard, but had success developing Anthony Hitchens, Anthony Walker, Damien Wilson, and even Matt Adams, who the Colts took as a seventh-rounder, and now is following Eberflus in Chicago.
1. A trade fits the Chicago Bears’ timeline
Beyond the realization that Roquan Smith is not their player, he does not quite fit the timeline of Ryan Poles. While many expect Poles to go out and spend the salary cap money that he helped save this offseason, the realization is that Poles see the longer plan here.
The best franchises draft and develop, then use the cap space to extend their own. Then, they have extra money to touch up the edges. That means that Poles will probably do more drafting and developing, and it could mean more saving of money.
With that in mind, the timeline that Poles is on could benefit from a draft pick or two, and not adding the salary of Roquan Smith. Essentially, by the time that Justin Fields, Kyler Gordon, and Jaquan Brisker will need a new deal, Poles may be under pressure to make a move on Roquan Smith. Rather than being tight at that point, he could have cheap and young players that make it easy to pay his guys.
We do not know what Ryan Poles thinks of Roquan Smith but we do know that the Chiefs do not historically value linebackers. We know that extending linebackers has had bad results in recent years, and we know that he was not the person to draft Roquan Smith. Considering Poles is on a slower timeline than most fans, they have to at least be understanding that if the phone rings for Roquan Smith, he will pick up.