Getty One Bears insider says LB Roquan Smith has some maturity issues.
One of the top insiders covering the Chicago Bears has shared some revealing details about why the team and linebacker Roquan Smith may have failed to come to an agreement about a contract extension.
When going public with his request to be traded on August 9, Smith wrote that the “new front office regime doesn’t value” him, also noting the new regime has “refused to negotiate in good faith, every step of this journey has been ‘take it or leave it.'”
Smith, who crafted his trade request in an iPhone Notes app and released it via insider Ian Rapoport, made it known he hasn’t been pleased with the offer/offers he has received from first-year general manager Ryan Poles and company.
“The deal sent to me is one that would be bad for myself, and for the entire LB market if I signed it,” Smith added. “I’ve been trying to get something done that’s fair since April, but their focus has been on trying to take advantage of me.”
One insider close to the team says Smith’s assertions he’s being treated unfairly are “poppycock.”
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Insider on Smith: ‘This Is a Very Immature Kid’
Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog has been one of the top insiders covering the team for years, and he shared some eye-opening thoughts about the contract the Bears offered Smith — and why they offered what they did.
Hughes tweeted the following on August 12:
“This is a very immature kid, off the field, and the Bears have had his back a number of times. He knows that. His ‘disrespect’ claim is poppycock. (Oh and they offered him $95M.)”
I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing Roquan. This is a very immature kid, off the field, and the Bears have had his back a number of times. He knows that. His “disrespect” claim is poppycock. (Oh and they offered him $95M.)
Both Rapoport and another NFL insider, Adam Schefter, reported Smith was offered a heavily-backloaded deal. According to Rapoport, the offer the Bears made “included proposed de-escalators that not a single player out of the 94 non-QB, $15M+ contracts has. He was offended.”
Hughes says he knows why the Bears structured the contract the way they did.
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Hughes Points to Issues Off the Field
When Bill Zimmerman of SB Nation’s Windy City Gridiron asked Hughes if Schefter and Rapoport were wrong about the Bears structuring Smith’s extension with bonuses attached to performance, Hughes tweeted there was more to it.
“I’m saying I know who is giving them their info,” Hughes responded. “And there’s stuff in the deal the Bears want that Roquan’s side won’t be discussing, including protections against off-field behavior. (Which there has been/continues to be.)”
@ZimmermanSXM I’m saying I know who is giving them their info. And there’s stuff in the deal the Bears want that Roquan’s side won’t be discussing, including protections against off-field behavior. (Which there has been/continues to be.)
While Hughes referred to issues off the field for Smith, he didn’t get specific. Since entering the league in 2018, Smith has made a few headlines for his off-field behavior, but has never been charged with a crime of any kind.
In 2020, he was spoken to by the team about partying on a yacht when he and his teammates were supposed to be social distancing, and there was his mysterious absence due to a “personal issue” that forced him to miss time in 2019. He also crashed his car into a pole in 2019, but that was reported to be a weather-related accident.
If Ryan Poles gave Roquan Smith performance based de-escalators it wouldnt make much sense, since statistically he is among the best every year.
It makes you think that they could be based on off field issues. Therefore the extra sensitivity and trade request.
“Roquan is a lot to deal with. He always has been,” Hughes wrote in another tweet.
Perhaps Poles wants to make sure Smith’s name stays out of the papers moving forward.
In his four seasons with the Bears, Smith has accumulated 524 total tackles, 348 solo tackles, 176 assists, 14.0 sacks, 17 forced fumbles and five interceptions (stats via Pro Football Reference).
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