Roquan Smith says Chicago Bears GM made false promises, then traded 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 with the team, and they had not yet extended his deal. However, the lineback claims that Poles met with him soon after his hiring in January, and claimed they team would build the defense around him, just like they planned to do with Justin Field and the offense.

Smith says, Poles promised that a “top of the market” offer would be coming his way eventually. However, negotiations never went the way Smith expected and he eventually held off for a month in training camp and eventually asked for a trade. Yet, Poles’ stance remained the same despite stalled negotiations and a losing season in Chicago, the linebacker alleges.

“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 building his value on a first-place and playoff bound team heading into NFL free agency in 2023.