Former Chicago Bears defensive star Roquan Smith alleges that the team’s general manager, Ryan Poles, made some major promises to him that he reneged on when he traded him to the Baltimore Ravens in November.
Roquan Smith was one of the most notable talents moved at this year’s trade deadline. While the 25-year-old hasn’t earned Pro Bowl honors yet during his five seasons in the NFL, there is no doubt he is one of the best young linebackers in the league.
Since being selected with the 8th pick overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, Smith has wracked 100 more tackles every year and peaked with an outstanding 163 tackles (95 solos) in 2021. Which broke the organization’s storied single-season record.
Related: NFL defense rankings – Get the rundown of the top defense heading into Week 15
The Georgia standout seemed like a player the team could build around as an anchor of their defense for the next decade. Smith claims that new Bears GM Ryan Poles told him as much in the offseason and made some major long-term promises to the young star. And then reneged on it all when he shipped him off to the Ravens in November.
Roquan Smith says Chicago Bears Ryan Poles promised he’d never trade him
During a Wednesday conversation with Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Roquan Smith revealed that he thought there was a good chance he could get traded in 2022. Since it was the final year of his rookie contract and he and the team hadn’t come close on an extension. However, the linebacker alleges that Poles met with him soon after his hiring in January, and claimed he wanted to build the defense around smith, just like they planned to do with Justin Fields with the offense.
- Roquan Smith stats (2022): 119 tackles (74 solos), 4.5 sacks, 3 interceptions
Smith says, Poles promised that a “top of the market” offer would be coming his way eventually. However, negotiations never went the way Roquan Smith expected and he eventually held out for a month of training camp and eventually asked for a trade. Yet, he alleges Poles’ stance remained the same despite stalled negotiations and a losing season in Chicago.
“I thought Poles would ship me out, but he told me numerous times, ‘I don’t plan to trade you at all. So I was like, ‘I guess I won’t be going anywhere.’ He said we’d talk at the end of the season.”
– Roquan Smith
Obviously, those talks never happened and Smith was moved to Baltimore four days before the NFL trade deadline. It is unclear what changed for the Bears and Poles during the season, but Smith has benefitted by further building his value with a Pro Bowl-level season on a first-place and playoff-bound team heading into NFL free agency in 2023.