Ryan Poles is making the Chicago Bears trade deadline look like a national holiday here in Chicago. Not only has he made one trade, but he made a second trade that now moves both of the team’s defensive captains off the unit in less than two weeks. Robert Quinn was traded to the Eagles last week and now Roquan Smith is on the move to Baltimore. Matt Eberflus will have to announce another new defensive captain as Eddie Jackson was notified he’d take Quinn’s spot.
I am trying to give myself time to think this through and therefore, this article is probably going to sound more like a jumble of thoughts of a person working through the move in their mind rather than a collected and focused piece on specific areas.
The Chicago Bears are making moves, but are they the right moves?
I’m not ready to say that I am happy about this trade. I’m also not disappointed. I can see both sides and I’m still on the fence. At some point, I’ll have to declare what I think, but I do know that before the season started, my mind was set on the idea that if Ryan Poles couldn’t get at least a first-round pick for Roquan Smith, it would be a bad deal. It’s way too soon to declare that and I am working my way toward saying, look, I was wrong.
Part of my admitting I was wrong has to do with how Roquan Smith handled the negotiations this summer. Not having an agent is clearly a downside for him, even if he doesn’t want to see it that way. His actions weren’t awful and I appreciated the fact he reported to camp every day. However, this is the second time he has created an issue with contracts — see his rookie season.
If rumors are true that Ryan Poles offered Smith a number similar to Fred Warner, then Smith being sent for a second-round pick, fifth-round pick and linebacker, A.J. Klein makes absolute sense. Especially, when the team trading for Roquan Smith also has to now turn around and negotiate a contract or franchise tag Smith next year. Good luck doing that while also negotiating with Lamar Jackson.
Alright, here are three random thoughts on this deal.
The Baltimore Ravens are getting an excellent player in Roquan Smith
I’m not going to sit here and bash a player who has been excellent for this franchise — at least on the field — just because he’s no longer here. Too many fans like to do this. They see a player leave and try to justify the move by saying, “well, he wasn’t that great, to begin with.” Nonsense. Roquan Smith is still a top-five linebacker in the NFL and arguably a top-three. His play on the field and his stats show it.
Even this season as he’s had some up-and-down games, Roquan Smith has made some big impacts. He secured the win over the Texans in the fourth quarter with the first of his two interceptions of the year. He has had some impactful tackles for loss as well. Not to mention, he leads the league in combined tackles this season with 83. We are only through eight games and he has more combined tackles than some do all season. He’s coming off his worst game of the year vs the Cowboys, but let’s not pretend he’s not a top off-the-ball linebacker in the game.
The Ravens are going to instantly improve on defense. They have had some struggles with their current inside linebackers, but putting Roquan Smith next to Patrick Queen will make for a fantastic inside duo.
Trading Roquan Smith does not mean the Chicago Bears are tanking
Too many fans are already claiming that the Chicago Bears made this move to try and tank the remainder of the season. Losing a player with Roquan Smith’s talent hurts. He was voted a captain for a reason. That said, Smith plays probably the most replaceable position on the defense. Plus, if he was that pivotal to Matt Eberflus’ defense, he wouldn’t have been traded.
When you think about the running back position, it isn’t valued highly across the NFL. The off-the-ball linebacker position is very similar. This is probably a lesson to be learned that the franchise shouldn’t be drafting off-the-ball linebackers in the top 10 of any draft. The positional value is too low and other positions should be considered instead — offensive tackle, wide receiver, EDGE rusher.
Now, let’s not expect whoever steps in to play Smith’s position to fill his shoes completely. However, the team has struggled against the run all season outside of the Patriots game. Will we see the team take even more of a dip in that regard or will it really not matter in the grand scheme of things? My first thought is that we won’t see high-impact plays like takeaways, but it won’t cause the run defense to just fall off of a cliff — it was at the edge anyway.
The Bears put up 29 points last week vs the Cowboys — the most points scored on the Dallas defense all season. Add that to the 33 points vs the Patriots and the Bears’ offense has scored 40% of their season points total in just three weeks. To think that the team is going to play any differently at this point is just silly. They aren’t a good team from a talent standpoint, sending Roquan Smith off isn’t Ryan Poles’ way of trying to tank. It’s his way to build for the future. That brings us to my final thought.
Ryan Poles no longer saw Roquan Smith in the Chicago Bears future
Ryan Poles is looking to build this franchise in his image. He came out early and said that he was going to build through the draft, take back the north and never give it back. We shouldn’t be surprised that he’s sending off assets that can net the greatest return. The negotiations between Roquan Smith and Ryan Poles clearly did not go in a way that Poles deemed worthy of retaining Smith’s services.
Rather than deal with the headache, now Poles doesn’t have to give $18 million-plus to someone who appears to be an off-the-field problem. He now has two second-round picks to go with a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He also already has nine picks to start with, when last season he only had five.
If we look at the Chicago Bears, they are building for not only 2023, but beyond. The salary cap needed fixing. The team needed a youth movement. Ryan Poles said it was difficult to trade a player like Robert Quinn just a week ago, but his job is not to only look at the now but to also look at the future. That is what we are seeing here with a move like this. I am bummed the pick was not a first. However, I understand why a team wouldn’t give that up for a player they now have to negotiate with going forward.
5 reasons Chicago Bears trading Roquan Smith was right decision
If you had to name two players that the Chicago Bears may trade this offseason it would have been Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn
Overall, I’m leaning toward this being a good move for both sides. From a micro-level, it’s a downgrade for sure. From a macro level, this team needs to be making moves of this magnitude. I’ll stay on the fence for now but might declare my side tonight on my podcast (Halas Huddle).