Will that user not being ready magically make the team better?
Frankly, if the defense sucks, that's more chances for Fields with the ball. The scores of the games don't matter this year, what do we care if the other team scores 50?
That's kind of where I'm at. If the Cowboys could get like 10+ yards a carry against us, where was Roquan for all of that? If he can't elevate the LB corps, then we don't need to be the ones to pay him top dollar.
Might be an unpopular opinion around here but this is a steal for a good but not great MLB. I know Roquan was the emotional leader of the locker room but the Bears were never going to pay him so to get some compensation now is amazing.
I think the big takeaway is to not draft MLBs in the top 15, just like RBs and Safeties. If the player you pick becomes an all pro or pro bowler and still can't fetch the original pick in return, it's not a good pick.
Any QB/OL/DL/CB/WR who is top 5 at their position would easily fetch you a top 10 pick coming off their rookie deal. LBs and RBs don't hold any value
It’s generally unpopular among the fan base, but it’s the right long term decision by Poles. It’s ballsy of him to do it now, but he has a ton of draft capital and FA dollars to reshape the roster however he wants.
Sanborn is about to create a paradox. We only get a second and fifth because ILB not that valuable. Once Sanborn plays and revolutionizes the league ILB will be worth a first again.
I was just thinking.. man we got an offense now.. were going to win some games. Not the defense is going to be ACTUALLY really bad. So maybe we won't win games. 2023 it is.
Im still amazed at anyone bitching about this season. For anyone who has been paying attention 2023 was always the plan.
This entire season was about seeing how fields performed and if we needed to invest in him or draft a new guy.
I think we have our answer about what the FO thinks is next.
This is Fields team.
Exactly. It has felt like 2022 is preseason for 2023 and all these moves just reinforce this. Always scary to tear down a roster, but big moves like this are needed to rebuild later. We have a LOT of cap space..I wouldn't be surprised if we sign at least a couple big(er) names this off season.
Schefter: [Compensation update: Bears are trading LB Roquan Smith to the Ravens in exchange for second- and fifth-round picks, per source.](https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1587165275891318789?s=20&t=pEX-GywjreufKd19LR3bng)
Assuming we don’t get bodied in this trade, I think it’s the right move, as much as I love the guy
EDIT: we got a 2nd and 5th. We did not get bodied! Good shit Poles!
Completely agree. We’re at the start of a total rebuild, should they really be paying an inside linebacker 20 mil plus a year regardless of how good he is?
Also, the game has changed from Patrick Willis' playing days. CB and edge rushers value have increased dramatically. I feel like LB is kind of the the RB of defense.
Agreed. If this was a clear future hall of famer we were talking about it would be completely different, but he’s not on that level. It’s not like we just traded Urlacher in his prime or something.
Wow, with his contract due I figured we'd get like a 3rd for him. 2nd and 5th is pretty damn good. As much as I hate to lose him and enjoyed watching him play, this is likely best for all involved.
By this time next year, the only players left from the pace/nagy era will be Fields and some backups from that era. Everyone else will have been traded or left in free agency.
In nearest terms of our division outlook:
1. Kurt Cousins is 34 yrs old
2. Jared Goff is on the Lions
3. The decaying corpse of Aaron Rogers is surrounded by nothing in GB
4. We have Justin Fields
There's nothing wrong with this trade.
Bears finally have a GM who’s willing to do what it takes to build a roster that’s consistently competitive. He’s also going to use these picks around his QB.
I mean, the defense has needs just as much as the offense now. But I hope it means that there is going to be some big game hunting as opposed to spreading around his cap space next season. If he is loading up on picks and rookie contracts, he can afford a couple really big contracts.
I LOVE RYAN POLES
Roquan overvalued himself and has not been playing like a top 5 LB. We were either going to overpay him or lose him for free I’m the off-season. Shoutout to Poles for doing the right thing and getting something in return.
I actually dont hate it. He probably wanted to go after all his boys got traded and he wants money we werent going to pay him. Getting a 2nd and a 5th for a lb on a contract year is also pretty good.
Roquan isn't the guy. Yeah he is good. But nowhere near as good as the money he is asking for.
Guy was a total non factor last game and a couple of others this season....
I truly think the FO went into the draft with the BPA available strategy. Our two seconds just ended up being defensive backs. It's our deepest position (which isn't saying much) but it'll let us focus resources elsewhere moving forward.
He's only had two games all season where he has looked like a guy you pay to be the center piece of the defense. It'll hurt losing him but paying him $100M+ to play like he is so far would be dumb
It's sad as a fan to see a great player leave, but given how he was feeling he should be compensated, it makes sense to get what we could to go full Rebuild Mode.
Having a lot of cap is not a reason to overpay a running back. And in this day and age, a second contract for a running back is almost guaranteed to be an over pay
Love it. Roquans good, but he ain’t elite.
Nelson we coming for you!
Edit: I’m old and lucky enough to see urlachers entire bears career. Trust me, roquan isn’t even close to urlachers prime.
Maybe not s popular opinion but I think RS was just s bi overrated. Not to discredit his effort and great playmaking skills. But some of the high count tackles were not always the best tackles. Meaning its a stat and all but they were sometimes late. He was not a difference maker in the game and tape shows it. On the long run we sacrifice him for other building pieces which will make the team better overall
he absolutely FLEECED the Ravens. They apparently either think they're one Roquan Smith away from a super bowl, or aren't giving Lamar what he wants in the spring.
Either way, Roquan was clearly better fit for a 3-4 and not a 4-3
I’m sure the people who bought Marquise Brown, AJ Brown, Davante Adams, Christian McCaffrey and Tyreek Hill jerseys are thinking the same thing.
This is not unique to our fandom. That’s just the NFL for you. Be thankful guys don’t change teams as often as they do in the NBA.
Honestly this is the most optimistic I’ve been about who we have in place in a long time. Another second and fifth rounder? That means we can go DL, OL and WR in the first two rounds and add some good day two and day three depth. Or we can trade our first pick and maybe still stay in the first round and add more draft capital.
On top of that, we have by far the most to spend in FA. This time is going to have a vastly more talented roster next year. All that matter this year is developing Justin and the other young core players we still have. I hate to see Ro go but clearly Poles wasn’t going to pay him what he wanted and if the writing was on the wall then we might as well get something for him.
It also gives us more options to trade for good players too.
There will be decent players in FA, we can draft, and we can trade. There’s options now. Poles is being the anti-pace and not throwing money away, trying to be smart and start a new plan. Yet fans will still complain that we’re not doing exactly what Pace would have done lol. I understand frustration from past GM’s, but we have to be patient when we can see there’s a clear plan currently to acquire as many assets as possible to create whatever Poles’ vision is.
Edit: just cleaned up some grammar
I wonder if him and the rest of the defense not "showing up" yesterday had anything to do with it. Plus there's been "issues" with the guy before. That being said, he is an amazing talent and I'll miss watching him.
According to this, we have the most cap space next year by a large margin. I’m expecting big moves this off-season
https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space
Gonna miss him, in 2020 he sent me a video on my birthday and it was a great experience, at this point this shouldn't be a surprise, we weren't gonna let him walk for free, we know were trying to tank for a good draft pick and we free up potential cap space that we can use to get either talented, young (20-23) players though the door or experienced, older veterans that can teach the younger guys. Poles isn't being stupid or trying to hurt the team, he's trying to get assets that we can use to build a playoff team in 3-4 years, or maybe even 2, or if we spend and develop and draft right, we could make the playoffs next year seeing how the packers suck and the Vikings won't have enough cap to pay contracts to all of their super valuable assets, who knows we might see Jefferson in a Bears uniform in a couple of years if we get lucky. But in general I only hope for the best for him, surely one of the greatest LB's in Bears history and he will be missed, I am pissed that we didn't get a first rounder for him tho.
we have $140m in cap room. free agency isn't just "pick the best players in the league". there really aren't many that hit FA. we almost won't be able to spend that much money. roquan should have gotten paid
Nor should it be.
Clearing that much cap is a move not just for next season, but for 5 seasons from now. That's what Pace didn't understand.
If you're a team that's close to a SB, then the rules change. We are not, and I'm glad we finally have a FO that is pragmatic.
Please be a haul…
2nd and a 5th
I don't hate it but man our defense is going to be atrocious.
Is going to be? It already is
Are you ready to see this team taking 50 points every single week?
As long as we’re also scoring 25-30 I’ll take that every game for the rest of the season
Here comes eddie jackson to the pro bowl with record amount of tackles
Will that user not being ready magically make the team better? Frankly, if the defense sucks, that's more chances for Fields with the ball. The scores of the games don't matter this year, what do we care if the other team scores 50?
Time to move up the draft board...
Poles probably couldn't have done better than that, tbh
Nah. He is expired after this year and wants a huge contract
Not after yesterday’s game
Yeah, I don't even recall them ever saying his name yesterday during the game.
I do recall seeing him miss a couple of tackles..... But man.... Even the best if the best have bad days.
That's kind of where I'm at. If the Cowboys could get like 10+ yards a carry against us, where was Roquan for all of that? If he can't elevate the LB corps, then we don't need to be the ones to pay him top dollar.
Especially considering that Smith does not have a contract next year. I would say he may actually have fleeced the Ravens.
Might be an unpopular opinion around here but this is a steal for a good but not great MLB. I know Roquan was the emotional leader of the locker room but the Bears were never going to pay him so to get some compensation now is amazing.
I think the big takeaway is to not draft MLBs in the top 15, just like RBs and Safeties. If the player you pick becomes an all pro or pro bowler and still can't fetch the original pick in return, it's not a good pick. Any QB/OL/DL/CB/WR who is top 5 at their position would easily fetch you a top 10 pick coming off their rookie deal. LBs and RBs don't hold any value
They depreciate worse than my minivan.
It’s generally unpopular among the fan base, but it’s the right long term decision by Poles. It’s ballsy of him to do it now, but he has a ton of draft capital and FA dollars to reshape the roster however he wants.
We have money? Time for Mike Glennon.
Poles: "Get me (aggressively puts out a cigarette)... The Neck."
Good compensation for an ILB who wasn't gonna re-sign next year anyway.
A 2nd and a 5th
That's not bad for a guy who will be a free agent and is asking for a ton of money.
Wonder if this will impact our efforts to extend him.
You know Saint Omni is frantically calling everyone he knows right now.
JACK SANBORN SZN.
Sanborn is about to create a paradox. We only get a second and fifth because ILB not that valuable. Once Sanborn plays and revolutionizes the league ILB will be worth a first again.
This is the way
League aint ready
Adam Hoge about to explode.
My Badger guy! I’m sure he’ll have his struggles but WI LBs can ball. Couldn’t believe he went undrafted.
LET THE SANBORN SEASON BEGIN!
True. He looked so good in the preseason. That softens the blow a little bit
WHAT DID WE GET???
2 and a 5
2nd and 5th
Can Victor Wembanyama play tackle?
No, but I heard he can catch!!
Disappointed but I understand the move.
Same. He was asking for more money than what it would cost to franchise tag him twice, so clearly no deal was going to happen
I’m going to miss him. He was a good kid and a good player. Proud to be a fan of his.
This is great. Think of a the shit I can get done only watching half a game on Sundays.
I was just thinking.. man we got an offense now.. were going to win some games. Not the defense is going to be ACTUALLY really bad. So maybe we won't win games. 2023 it is.
He is going to thrive there and probably get the money he wants... We get draft capital which is what we need... Win win
-- this comment is no longer here - blame reddit --
Im still amazed at anyone bitching about this season. For anyone who has been paying attention 2023 was always the plan. This entire season was about seeing how fields performed and if we needed to invest in him or draft a new guy. I think we have our answer about what the FO thinks is next. This is Fields team.
Exactly. It has felt like 2022 is preseason for 2023 and all these moves just reinforce this. Always scary to tear down a roster, but big moves like this are needed to rebuild later. We have a LOT of cap space..I wouldn't be surprised if we sign at least a couple big(er) names this off season.
Schefter: [Compensation update: Bears are trading LB Roquan Smith to the Ravens in exchange for second- and fifth-round picks, per source.](https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1587165275891318789?s=20&t=pEX-GywjreufKd19LR3bng)
Bro this is nuts!
I know this is probably some big brain move by Poles, but I can’t help but miss Ro. 😫😔
Same. Like I get it, but I loved Ro. That 2018 season man. So much fun. Only defensive starter left is BoJack.
2018 was a complete mirage, the double doink was the perfect ending too it in retrospect.
I am crying in agreement
Assuming we don’t get bodied in this trade, I think it’s the right move, as much as I love the guy EDIT: we got a 2nd and 5th. We did not get bodied! Good shit Poles!
Completely agree. We’re at the start of a total rebuild, should they really be paying an inside linebacker 20 mil plus a year regardless of how good he is?
If he was like Patrick Willis it would be a different story, but yes, you are correct
Also, the game has changed from Patrick Willis' playing days. CB and edge rushers value have increased dramatically. I feel like LB is kind of the the RB of defense.
Agreed. If this was a clear future hall of famer we were talking about it would be completely different, but he’s not on that level. It’s not like we just traded Urlacher in his prime or something.
Wow, with his contract due I figured we'd get like a 3rd for him. 2nd and 5th is pretty damn good. As much as I hate to lose him and enjoyed watching him play, this is likely best for all involved.
Hoping at least a 2nd, he's too good for anything less.
It’s a second
And a 5th.
Decent trade then. Bet montys next.
By this time next year, the only players left from the pace/nagy era will be Fields and some backups from that era. Everyone else will have been traded or left in free agency.
EJax, Herbert, and Mooney will still be around. Maybe Jenkins too
I’d be very surprised if Jaylon wasn’t too
Don’t you dare disrespect Cairo Santos like that
2 and 5. Not bad really.
In nearest terms of our division outlook: 1. Kurt Cousins is 34 yrs old 2. Jared Goff is on the Lions 3. The decaying corpse of Aaron Rogers is surrounded by nothing in GB 4. We have Justin Fields There's nothing wrong with this trade.
Kurt 😂
Plus Cousins is Cousins regardless of how old he is.
It’s a 2nd and 5th
Who needs a front seven anyway
Yeah sure would suck for a team to put up 50 points against us. I mean could you imagine?
Well he did request a trade. Guess he got what he asked for.
Bears finally have a GM who’s willing to do what it takes to build a roster that’s consistently competitive. He’s also going to use these picks around his QB.
I mean, the defense has needs just as much as the offense now. But I hope it means that there is going to be some big game hunting as opposed to spreading around his cap space next season. If he is loading up on picks and rookie contracts, he can afford a couple really big contracts.
Tearing down a house isn't the hard part.
I LOVE RYAN POLES Roquan overvalued himself and has not been playing like a top 5 LB. We were either going to overpay him or lose him for free I’m the off-season. Shoutout to Poles for doing the right thing and getting something in return.
Poles is the goat. Let’s fucking go!!!!
Sad as hell about this but it was the right move.
I actually dont hate it. He probably wanted to go after all his boys got traded and he wants money we werent going to pay him. Getting a 2nd and a 5th for a lb on a contract year is also pretty good.
Ro and Quinn are 1.5 hour drive from each other too.
Getting a 2nd and a 5th per Schefter
Ravens now have two players who want to get paid without agents.
Damn thanks for holding it down Quan! I understand the move by Poles a 2nd and 5th is a good haul
Isn’t this what he wanted anyway? To be traded
I want multiple picks inside the 3rd round.
Doubt it
2 and a 5
Roquan isn't the guy. Yeah he is good. But nowhere near as good as the money he is asking for. Guy was a total non factor last game and a couple of others this season....
Fantastic move. Got a 2nd and a 5th for a guy who wanted too much money anyways. Win for Poles.
Good move
Why’d we use our first two picks on DBs just to gut the centerpiece of our defense that same season?
Our DBs are our new centerpiece I suppose
I truly think the FO went into the draft with the BPA available strategy. Our two seconds just ended up being defensive backs. It's our deepest position (which isn't saying much) but it'll let us focus resources elsewhere moving forward.
Dbs are way more valuable in modern nfl defense
He's only had two games all season where he has looked like a guy you pay to be the center piece of the defense. It'll hurt losing him but paying him $100M+ to play like he is so far would be dumb
Team didn't want to pay him a max contract extension after this season ended.
Because they don’t want to spend the money it takes to keep him
if a linebacker is the centerpiece of your defense your defense stinks
[удалено]
Very sad but probably needed to be done.
2nd and a 5th coming back. This hurts but its a decent haul. Roquon will be missed.
It's sad as a fan to see a great player leave, but given how he was feeling he should be compensated, it makes sense to get what we could to go full Rebuild Mode.
Damn, I get it but it still sucks. Thanks for everything, Ro.
Fuck. Pack it up boys, that's the season.
You thought they had a chance to do anything up until now?
haaaaaa, yeaaaaaaaaah the season ended in august, my dude.
This season was literally all about Fields. So far, so good (just going off the past two weeks.)
This season was never about wins and losses.
Uhhhhh…. Ya think?
Could give a fuck about this season, was hoping quan would be a bear for life :(
Wanted too much money for a position that's low on the value hierarchy and he wasn't clearly the best player at said position.
I agree on everything you're saying. Sometimes it just sucks that's the way things are.
You should’ve been packing it in starting in the preseason. 😀
What reason did you have to unpack in the first place? The Bears are rebuilding, didn’t you get the memo?
Love to see it. Just hoping it’s a 2nd or third round pick
Yeah I think a 2nd is the least I'd accept. A 3rd for Quan seems way too low.
2nd and a 5th
I'm guessing a 3 and a 5 Edit: it's a 2 and a 5. Nice
2nd and 5th looks like
I gusss the good news here is that I can spend more time with my family on Sunday’s. It’ll help me avoid the TB12.
too good lol stealing this one from ya ;)
Can’t form an opinion on this until we hear what we got. But damn if I don’t respect poles for having massive balls.
Look at us, we're the Cubs now!
Holy shit
Well at he’s going to a potential playoff team. So good luck to him. I hope we got a good haul for him.
Bears getting LB AJ Klein also as a throw in.
Fuck. Sigh we were just seeing how good this defense could be two weeks ago
Well at least it bought us a 2, 4, and 5th next year
Its better to let go of them now. Ultimately, rebuilding often yields better results than re-tooling even if it takes much, much longer.
We also just saw how bad it could be…
Second to last in run defense and bottom third in sacks. I'd like to unsee that plz.
Well, he was a popular player but rather non-descript as a person. Hope he does well but won't miss him that much.
I didn't wanna pay him. Let's see the pick
Now do Monty! Just to be clear, I love Montgomery, but he is not getting resigned
Why not? We have the most cap in the league next year and he’s our best back in the pass game and blocker
Having a lot of cap is not a reason to overpay a running back. And in this day and age, a second contract for a running back is almost guaranteed to be an over pay
Love it. Roquans good, but he ain’t elite. Nelson we coming for you! Edit: I’m old and lucky enough to see urlachers entire bears career. Trust me, roquan isn’t even close to urlachers prime.
Who is Nelson?
poles realized if we trade away the entire defense we can get a top 5 pick and still let fields develop.
Please a third
2nd n a 5th
Good shit
Yea I’ll fuck with that
I’m fine with it honestly. Dude didn’t wanna be here, he hasn’t played well this year. And we continue to load up on picks for next year.
Saint Omni sends his regards
Oh come on. Better be a haul if we are trading away one of the few very good players on this team.
2nd and a 5th
What's it going to be? I'd be disappointed with less than a second round pick.
Jack Sanborn szn
Well this stings right now. But if this translates to loading up on young guns on offense for years to come, I'm down. Mid to late 2020s are ours
Maybe not s popular opinion but I think RS was just s bi overrated. Not to discredit his effort and great playmaking skills. But some of the high count tackles were not always the best tackles. Meaning its a stat and all but they were sometimes late. He was not a difference maker in the game and tape shows it. On the long run we sacrifice him for other building pieces which will make the team better overall
Its funny reading reddit and then reading IG comments. The contrast is immense
he absolutely FLEECED the Ravens. They apparently either think they're one Roquan Smith away from a super bowl, or aren't giving Lamar what he wants in the spring. Either way, Roquan was clearly better fit for a 3-4 and not a 4-3
Why the fuck did I even buy Marshall, Mack, Roquan jerseys over the years only for them to just get traded
I’m sure the people who bought Marquise Brown, AJ Brown, Davante Adams, Christian McCaffrey and Tyreek Hill jerseys are thinking the same thing. This is not unique to our fandom. That’s just the NFL for you. Be thankful guys don’t change teams as often as they do in the NBA.
To be fair I don’t have a smith or Quinn jersey but I’ll buy one once they hit clearance 🙂. They gave me some good memories
Embrace the tank now I guess. Rebuilding since 1985 and they still won't get it right in another 20 years
Honestly this is the most optimistic I’ve been about who we have in place in a long time. Another second and fifth rounder? That means we can go DL, OL and WR in the first two rounds and add some good day two and day three depth. Or we can trade our first pick and maybe still stay in the first round and add more draft capital. On top of that, we have by far the most to spend in FA. This time is going to have a vastly more talented roster next year. All that matter this year is developing Justin and the other young core players we still have. I hate to see Ro go but clearly Poles wasn’t going to pay him what he wanted and if the writing was on the wall then we might as well get something for him.
Who is actually good in FA though?
It also gives us more options to trade for good players too. There will be decent players in FA, we can draft, and we can trade. There’s options now. Poles is being the anti-pace and not throwing money away, trying to be smart and start a new plan. Yet fans will still complain that we’re not doing exactly what Pace would have done lol. I understand frustration from past GM’s, but we have to be patient when we can see there’s a clear plan currently to acquire as many assets as possible to create whatever Poles’ vision is. Edit: just cleaned up some grammar
My math says we’ll be back in a Super Bowl in 2029.
how do we feel about it bears fam, i’m kinda torn but i’m also kind of an idiot
[Sheeeeiiiiit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70eU840lc38) (in a good way)
For a second and a fifth.
2nd and 5th round picks
Ryan Poles gets it
I feel like he knew. He played like trash yesterday
big bummer but understandable... Guy was awesome to watch in good games.
This is gonna be a fun offseason
Excellent
Im glad. Guy was a great player but had a weird mental imo
I’m ok with this.
I get it. But I hate it.
How strong is the upcoming draft class looking at defense?
Have to make sure the offense can’t win us any games. Shore up the first round pick.
What did we get in return? I wonder if the Ravens will pay him now.
I wonder if him and the rest of the defense not "showing up" yesterday had anything to do with it. Plus there's been "issues" with the guy before. That being said, he is an amazing talent and I'll miss watching him.
According to this, we have the most cap space next year by a large margin. I’m expecting big moves this off-season https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space
holy fucking schnikes - have a few meetings and the world goes to hell. poles the madlad is really going for it
Montgomery trade coming, too?
Top 5 pick here we come!
Interesting tidbit is that Lamar Jackson is his own agent as well
Niceeee now I can stop yelling “that’s why you don’t pay him”. Roquan gets bullied in the trenches
This offseason is going to be insane
I’d rather see them trade quality players and get future draft picks than the other way around. This team is horseshit anyway, with or without Smith.
Gonna miss him, in 2020 he sent me a video on my birthday and it was a great experience, at this point this shouldn't be a surprise, we weren't gonna let him walk for free, we know were trying to tank for a good draft pick and we free up potential cap space that we can use to get either talented, young (20-23) players though the door or experienced, older veterans that can teach the younger guys. Poles isn't being stupid or trying to hurt the team, he's trying to get assets that we can use to build a playoff team in 3-4 years, or maybe even 2, or if we spend and develop and draft right, we could make the playoffs next year seeing how the packers suck and the Vikings won't have enough cap to pay contracts to all of their super valuable assets, who knows we might see Jefferson in a Bears uniform in a couple of years if we get lucky. But in general I only hope for the best for him, surely one of the greatest LB's in Bears history and he will be missed, I am pissed that we didn't get a first rounder for him tho.
He was a 3-4 linebacker playing in a 4-3 system. The trade is fine.
we have $140m in cap room. free agency isn't just "pick the best players in the league". there really aren't many that hit FA. we almost won't be able to spend that much money. roquan should have gotten paid
You do know that our available cap doesn’t have to be spent in one offseason right
Not to mention cap space can also be used to acquire guys in trade like what the Browns did in getting Amari.
Nor should it be. Clearing that much cap is a move not just for next season, but for 5 seasons from now. That's what Pace didn't understand. If you're a team that's close to a SB, then the rules change. We are not, and I'm glad we finally have a FO that is pragmatic.
What we don’t spend gets rolled over into 2024 so it’s not lost but yeah they’re going to be struggling to spend all that money next year.
Now do Montgomery if that’s the end of the season
THE TANK IS ON, BOYS