Bears' All-Pro linebacker has requested a trade
Ian Rapoport has just reported that Roquan Smith has requested a trade from the Chicago Bears.
Here is the message he had for Bears nation:
Roquan Smith is, most likely, the best player currently on the Chicago Bears roster. Ever since he got into the NFL, Smith has been one of the league's best linebackers. He can stop the run very nicely and he excels in pass coverage as well. However, his best attribute is his ability to fly to the football and cover a lot of ground with his insane speed and athleticism.
Roquan has been holding out of training camp since the contract talks have not gone well with the Bears.
Smith's value is at an all-time high since he's coming off back-to-back all-pro second-team nominations. He may very well be the highest-paid player at his position when he signs his new deal. For example, Darius Leonard's five-year contract extension fell just short of the $100 million mark over five years. With Roquan's tremendous play on the field and his young age, we could see a deal very similar to Leonard's.
More frustrations: � The backloaded offer, which wouldn't make him the highest paid in actual salary, included proposed de-escalators that not a single player out of the 94 non-QB, $15M+ contracts has. He was offended.� The deal would hurt the LB market as a whole.
