The Bears need to extend this player.
In only 4 seasons in the NFL, Roquan Smith has already established himself as one of the league's best linebackers and certainly, a great leader on and off the field for the Bears. He flies to the ball on every single play and, outside of maybe Robert Quinn, had the best season for a defensive player on the team in 2021.
Smith was near the top of the league in tackles this season. He also made a couple of amazing game-changing plays like this one:
In addition, Roquan is one of the few pieces for the Bears that is young. Even though he has played 4 seasons already, he is only 24 years old. That is one of the biggest reasons why he is so valuable for the future of the franchise.
At the moment, he only has one year left on his contract. So, he could theoretically be a free agent after next season. Ryan Poles has to at least start the contract negotiation with Roquan.
The Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey had some very nice words for Smith at the end of the season. He went out of his way and said: "I want to commend David Montgomery and Roquan Smith, who gave everything they had on every play."
However, the contract that Smith would demand would surely be very lucrative. You have to expect he will ask at least 4-5 years for something in the area of $16-19 million per year. For a player of his caliber, who is still very young and who has not missed a single game in the past 2 years, is it absolutely worth it. If Poles is able to make it happen, Roquan Smith would be the centrepiece of the Bears defense for a long time!
