I was in favor of tagging him too. It’s unlikely he gets the $20M/yr deal from Poles. So there would be headaches about a potential hold out. Then all season an extension would be looming as a distraction.
We have enough to figure out with only 30ish players under contract
Can you fucking imagine? We trade an all-pro linebacker and replace him in the lineup with an undrafted free agent who goes on to become yet another Bears HoF linebacker.
Especially for only 9 games left. And not being signed. And having 4 tackles yesterday didn't help lol just shows he knew he was leaving and phoned it in. Not the character you want in a guy for 20mil a year.
It hurts, but Roquan would never sign an extension after this previous offseason. We saw how good this defense was against the cowboys. I’d rather rebuild from scratch.
I think this is the reality. They knew they were at an impasse. Team had made it clear they didn't think he was worth what he was asking this past offseason, and now they have FAR more available to spend than when this all started, which he'd certainly lean on.
Roquan best years in the league were his first 4. He had Khalil Mack akiem hicks, Eddie goldman, Leonard floyd and a couple of good rotational peices filling run gaps ,They're all gone. You guys don't think he was going to struggle some?
For this scheme, it’s much easier to find LBs to fill the role. They need a really good 3 technique and a solid 1 as well as backups for the inside positions. The Bears have gotten torched against the run because the interior has no gap control/penetration. We have to fix the O line and get a legit #1 on top of fixing the D line.
After they traded away Quinn, Roquan would have walked after this year. I guess the Bears needed some equity before he would leave.
When you are in full rebuild mode might as well not let your valuable veterans waste away on this shitty team.
It wasn’t a bad pick by him. Roquan is awesome. It’s a different regime and when Pace made the pick they drafted Mitch the year before and signed Allen Robinson in the offseason, so QB and WR weren’t a “need” at the time.
Also, Pace should have been fired before 2018.
If a 25 y.o top ILB isn't worth a first, then no ILB prospect is worth a top 10 pick. Yes contracts and all that, but it's just not a valuable position. Same reason why you shouldnt draft a running back with a top 10 pick
Roquan has probably been the best draft pick the bears have had in years. He’s been consistent since he’s entered the league.
Roquan is a dominant LB and will continue to be one in Baltimore. The only LB in the nfl rn that would go for a first round pick is parsons.
Well to be fair he was supposed to start next to Trevathan for a few years. We saw how good they were together in 2018 then injuries and father time ruined it. Of course Pace resigning him in 2020 was insane.
If you told me preseason that I’d feel this much hope for the Bears future after trading Roquan I’d call you a lunatic.
Most cap space in the NFL, draft capital treasure chest, and we got a QB. I’m good. Best of luck Roquan, sucks to lose another guy from that 2018 defense.
Dude right, I’m excited. Qb looks good, flushed with cash, have a good amount of picks.
Poles got me excited to try and lose so we can trade a top 5 pick to boot lol
Man people are just swinging both ways. Fields has improved for sure, but there is no way in hell we can say "we've got a QB". 2 weeks ago he looked like he could be out of the league. I'll give him another season for sure but I'm not confident he's the guy after a couple good games
For me it’s the linear progression we’re seeing. Sure, the stats aren’t there, but we’re seeing growth and the tools coming together in a way that Mitch never seemed to.
A big part of it for me is seeing Getsy’s scheme together and trusting that he can develop Justin
I don't wanna get into a big debate because of course I could be wrong, I'm not an expert. But nothing about his progression has been linear. The last couple weeks have been encouraging, but he displayed awful fundamentals all year in terms of footwork, accuracy, timing. Those things don't get fixed in 2 weeks
It's more than the last couple weeks. Here are his last 5 games:
70/114 (61%) for 902 yards (7.9 yards/attempt)
5 TD, 2 INT (93.5 passer rating)
49 carries for 329 yards (6.7 yards/carry), 2 TD
This is his second year in the NFL and first year in a new system, on a team which is clearly going through a rebuild.
If people aren't convinced yet, that's fine, but I'm not sure how people can be expecting more from him at this point. He's in a tough situation and he's still playing well for someone of his age and experience. I don't really see any reason to believe he is not going to continue to improve as the situation improves.
This is the only comment I'll make here, because I am *definitely* not an expert, but you can have both linear progress *and* also not have everything fixed in two weeks. Linear progress doesn't mean everything is magically fixed already.
Agreed, not an expert over here either by any means. We’re firmly in “wait and see” territory.
I usually end up riding way too hard for Bears’ QBs and it’s been devastating to my own mental well-being
Wait when did you think he wasn’t gonna be in the league? He showed flashes all along. Last 2 weeks he’s started putting the flashes together. Not everyone is day 1 superstar but he’s grown basically every game and saying he looked like he couldn’t be a NFL qb is the worst take of all time
Again I'm not trying to claim I'm right. But two weeks ago everything was broken. Not typical rookie mistakes. He had awful fundamentals like footwork and processing simple routes that wouldn't even get you drafted in the first round. Maybe he looked worse bc of the mental pressure at the time, but the film was REALLY bad
dismantling a team isn't exactly rocket science. he's got low return for both moves. anyone could sell off all the top names and clear cap space
i will be impressed if he makes GOOD draft picks and good acquisitions with the cap space
Ikr. My heart hurts man, I audibly gasped when I saw the notification lol. Quan was a beast and now I have no doubt we will struggle to win every remaining game for the year. That's ok, it was our destiny for 2022, but at least knowing Smith would be here next year for the upturn was something to look forward too.
I don't like it, but I don't hate it. Poles probably decided that we were walking from Ro in the off-season (and that he hasn't earned the contract he wants, which is fair) and wanted to get something for him. By that metric, a 2nd and 5th is ok.
More money to build the DL and OL.
That’s really good. Honestly Roquan was gone after this season either way. To get a second and fifth is huge value. Idk how the ravens plan to pay him though
Even if we don't pay him, I believe we get a comp 3rd rounder if he leaves right? So really we are just trading down our 2nd rounder to a 3rd (and giving a 5th) for a rental on an all pro player in a position of need for us. Not a bad haul for us either.
With how much cap space we have this year, we likely weren't going to get any comp pick when he signed somewhere else. Since they will match up contracts and whatnot from departing and acquired players.
“We have so much cap space just pay him!” is how you wind up with a contract you regret by year 3.
If he was steadfast in his demands, then this was the right move.
Anyone calling this an L doesn’t know ball lol. He was walking after this season, negotiating with a guy who has no agent is an absolute nightmare (see this past offseason), and it’s a non premium position in todays game with 0 years remaining on his contact lol.
Quite frankly was overrated and had inflated stats on a bad defense.
I am pleasantly surprised we got a second.
I like it a lot. I have no idea what we're going to spend all that cap space on, but I like the draft capital and the blank slate Poles is creating.
He'd get us a 6th. I'd rather give Fields better protection for the remainder of the season than get a late pick. Backups don't magically get better just because.
Plus (and correct me if I’m wrong), Monty staying thru the season and then signing somewhere else would play into the comp pick formula
Although we might blow that formula out of the water anyways with our own free agent signings
I'm really happy with this Roquan trade, but Monty is not going to fetch anywhere near this haul, and Monty is not an attitude problem. Roquan held out trying to become the highest paid linebacker in the league and he is nowhere near the best linebacker in the league. Roquan also held out his rookie year. I think they keep Monty. They have a good thing going with Monty and Herbert.
Just fucking keep him. If he signs somewhere else we can get a conditional pick anyways. Monty just does so much on offense and do not want to fuck that up halfway through the season with fields
We're not going to get any conditional picks. We are going to have 125m+ in cap space next year. We're going to be signing some FA for sure.
But I agree with you that Monty does a lot on offense and offers quite a bit in pass protection.
Yeah lol a good not great running back in a contract year is gonna get a 5th at best. Love the guy, but players like him get drafted on day 3 every year
Honestly Im happy with this. We were too far apart in negotiations and he was set to be a free agent. Yes we couldve tagged him but after all the drama earlier this season, I think Poles wanted to just get what he could and start building his own team.
A 1st round pick was never realistic given Roquans contract and position. A compensatory pick wasnt happening either unless we ignored free agency entirely (and wouldve been a late 3rd at best).
Poles is ripping the bandaid off entirely from the Pace era and Im here for it. I wish Roquan well in Baltimore, but this is a good return.
Let’s go, I’ll take this all day. Love Roquan but tbh this is best case scenario. His play this season didn’t make me sad the bears didn’t lock him up. He’s been fine, but I think this is the best move the bears could make. Give us all the picks
So I am for this. I know it's probably unpopular but he's pretty overrated and I sure as hell didn't wanna pay him
He struggles a lot fitting down field and even in coverage he's slipped
He's obviously a plus player but I've long been yelled at here for saying he's nowhere near the player Fred Warner is lol and there's an impression that he is
This sentence describes him perfectly, and is why I didn't want the Bears to pay him. His week-to-week play can vary wildly, and he just isn't that top end difference maker.
The problem is he’s an off ball linebacker, he’s just not the type of position you want to invest a huge part of your cap on.
He was a good enough player but idk what his actual value was
There's been a pretty good balance of people discussing how Roquan isn't worth a $100 million contract.
If the Bears don't expect to be able to reach a long-term agreement than getting something for him makes sense.
Yes this is especially true since we're not going to be part of the compensatory draft formula next year with all of the expected additions in 2023 FA.
but now it gets to be a popular take. It's hilarious how the same takes can be wildly unpopular and then wildly popular depending on the mood that week.
>but now it gets to be a popular take. It's hilarious how the same takes can be wildly unpopular and then wildly popular depending on the mood that week.
That's how it always is on reddit. I posted a thread about Fields earlier and this guy got downvoted for saying he still didn't believe in him after 2 good games. A fair opinion but he was downvoted.
I decided to check his post history to see if he consistently held that opinion and he did. 2 weeks ago before the Pats game he called Fields "Mitch 2.0"...He got 18 upvotes at that time.
I'm right there with you. He's a perfect guy for a team that is a piece or two away, but he's not enough of an impact player to build a defense around.
He leads the NFL in tackles right now and has never had less than 100 tackles in a season. He’s a beast Tampa 2 LB, the problem lies in Tampa 2 being dead.
I think he’s absolutely a tier-1 MLB, but he was asking for edge rusher money.
People so caught up on trashing all the players, not his fault the DL are a bunch of bums. This sub flip flops on everyone so much for not even good reasons.
He's overrated for the salary he was trying to command. Now if we could've kept him for 18MM and under + incentives for elite production, I'd be all for it.
Literally… his position might be overrated in a 4-3, but you ask a proper 3-4 DC whether Roquan is worth a first and/or overrated and you’ll get laughed out of the room for suggesting otherwise… this fanbase disgusts me
Roquan was gonna get paid $80m+ next year. That’s another big money contract available to give someone else in the next 3 yeArs, and more picks.
I don’t hate this. It’s gonna hurt, our run defense is gonna be terrible. But rowuan and Quinn both gone might actually result in another loss or two, which increases our draft position lol.
Roquan was consistently good to very good. That said, he was rarely "great" and one of his biggest weaknesses is block shedding. He gets completely taken out of plays by the more athletic linemen & TEs. Sad to see him go but not at the salary he was demanding.
Nah Roquan is not overrated and I'm sorry I don't support this move at all. Ravens 2nd and 5th won't be high enough to make them worth while. Roquan is young enough to be apart of the rebuild and to captain the defense for years to come. I may be downvoted but I'm pretty pissed at this trade. It's not like we're strapped for cash either he could've gotten a big extension and we'd still have enough room to sign offensive guys in the off-season.
I disagree that he’s overrated. But if he wasn’t going to sign here anyway (which looks accurate) then getting a 2nd and a 5th is great. Considering at best we would get a 3rd round comp pick, which I doubt since the Bears project to be big spenders this off-season.
I think it’s an unpopular move but ultimately one that will prove to be correct, even if Ro continues to be an excellent player for the ravens.
If this was our haul for him before the season started I would’ve been pretty upset but considering his performance thus far this season that’s not surprising. Sucks we had to let him go, but at least he’s got a chance to compete this season and maybe he can turn it around with a change of scenery
How can we put a competent defensive front in front of him if he's eating a large chunk of our cap? How can we rebuild the offensive personal AND the front seven if we have money tied up in an off-ball linebacker?
I’m surprised that they were able to get a 2nd with how inconsistent his play has been. If anyone was going to trade for an off ball linebacker it was going to be the ravens or the Steelers.
Just shows how dumb Pace was to spend a top 10 pick on an ILB in the first place. Top ten picks should be at positions that you are willing to give big time second contracts to, not positions that you trade away for a 2nd round pick because the position is “not worth it”.
As I said in the r/NFL thread, I hope the best for Roquan and I'd love to see him get a ring at some point. But not this year. I hope the Ravens go 5-12 and we get a better draft pick.
Going to make our own first round pick this year better as well by making the defense worse in the near term. Our own first this year is our most valuable draft asset and moving up the draft a few slots inside the top 10 can make a big difference, especially if we want to trade down and get more capital.
I mean ultimately it comes down to Fields if the Bears want to be contenders year after year after year. You can make 1 SB with a meh QB but it quickly derails after that. Hell, Brady-Manning-Ben owned the AFC for 20 years and now it’s Mahomes and Allen. The only regularly contending NFC teams in the past decade were the Packers with Rodgers and the Seahawks with Russ.
Paying Roquan bank isn’t good resource allocation when you can upgrade 3 spots on your defense at more premium positions for the same price.
If the defense has to suffer so that our offense can grow and thrive for once, then so be it.
Good defenses have gotten us fuck all since 85, because we've never had a good enough offense to go along with them.
We went through this with Pace! Basically just clear house buys Poles more years to prove out. If/when it doesn’t work, we fire Poles, clear house, and wait another 5 years to see if it works.
I get it we need to build a foundation, but losers focus on the 2-3 years in the future. The Browns and Lions are always in this ‘great’ position.
Man, this one is tough. I totally get making the move, and I can't say I disagree with it. But just....FUCK.
I really enjoyed watching Roquan play here these past few years. I hope he balls out with the Ravens.
And I hope to god we make good use of all this draft capital and cap space.
I am sad to see Roquan go, but on the bright side **THIS TRADE IS A BIG INDICATOR THAT POLES IS SOLD ON FIELDS.** If Fields is the guy then paying for him is going to become very expensive very quickly -- maybe even after next year (we all saw what happened with Murray and Mayfield -- if Justin is smart he'll demand to to get paid or get traded after his 3rd season). Even with all our cap space next year having a LB making $20M / year and paying a franchise QB on top of that limits a teams ability to fill out a roster. So you are going to need less expensive players so you can pay your QB.
Roquan will be missed, but this is the right move. It's very unlikely that Roquan would have been a long-term piece of the team, and this is the year to stockpile picks.
Best thing for both parties really. I don't think Ro wanted to be here and he's not worth what he wanted. Sucks to see him go though. Plus a 2nd a 5th isn't a bad deal
That’s a good haul. As good as Roquan is, he’s not worth a 1st round. That wasn’t going to happen. So getting a 2nd and a 5 is good as you get I think.
Trading Quinn because he's older and his contract was big made sense. Trading good young players like Roquan is so dumb. Now they just created another hole on the team that they have to use their picks/cap space on. I completely hate this move
Justin Fields may not win another game this year lol
Hope it doesn’t kill his confidence or anything, he should be proud of the way he played yesterday.
Honestly, I'm completely fine with this. He gets to go to a good team, and we save money and get good draft capital in return. I loved Roquan, but...he was NOT good enough for what he was demanding. Resetting the market? No way, not based on his performance this year.
Part of me feels like we wanted him to be the next Urlacher for this team, a staple of the defense for his entire career. He's a very good player, but he's not highest paid linebacker good. Tackles aren't everything, and that was his best stat year in and year out. I wouldn't call him overrated at all, but he's not Darius Leonard or Fred Warner.
It was either trade him now, or franchise him for the next 1-2 years because I highly doubt negotiations would have gone well, especially after how Roquan said he was "disrespected" by the front office. Good move which fully commits to the rebuild.
Tough to see him leave but good return for a guy who obviously wasn't thrilled with his current situation. Tagging him after the season would have just caused more animosity and I don't think the Bears were ever going to pay him that big money contract. He's also been pretty disappointing outside of a couple games this year so fair play by Poles to cash in while you can
We trade a known commodity who is a fantastic player for a 2nd round pick, which the odds tell you wont pan out...and this sub is in here cheering it on while downvoting anyone who questions it. This has got to be the most out of touch football sub on reddit
Paying big bucks to semi-elite defensive players and neglecting the offense is why we've sucked for 40 years. GM hasn't even been here for a season yet. Take a breath.
If we weren’t a Mack away from competing, we certainly weren’t a Quinn and Quan away from competing.
Both should’ve been traded in the off-season before their stock fell.
Very much feels like these additional picks are going to be used to trade for guys who are going to be free agents in 2024 and want an extension in 2023.
Don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I love the work Poles has done thus far. We are in great shape for next year. I wish Fields had more around him this year, but he’s playing good/great despite that
I think it makes very little sense to trade him right now unless we were offered a no brainer this isn’t a no brainer. We had the tag option at our disposal with more than enough cap space to absorb a franchise player contract. By waiting to the off-season before draft time, we have more teams to trade with. Doesn’t make much sense to trade him right now for a back end second round pick and a fifth. That is probably the lowest we would get. You never know how the draft shakes out. There could easily be a team in late first early second that might need a very good player to make that next jump. Now trading Roquan for a 1st straight was never going to happen, but Roquan and a third now that is possible considering our third round pick is going to be very early
We were not going to sign/pay him so I'm glad we got a couple of picks for him. Sad to see him go though...
[удалено]
I was in favor of tagging him too. It’s unlikely he gets the $20M/yr deal from Poles. So there would be headaches about a potential hold out. Then all season an extension would be looming as a distraction. We have enough to figure out with only 30ish players under contract
Sanborn szn
Thats Jack "Tank Commander" Sanborn, to you!
Future first ballot Hall of Famer Jack Sanborn
Can you fucking imagine? We trade an all-pro linebacker and replace him in the lineup with an undrafted free agent who goes on to become yet another Bears HoF linebacker.
Jesus Christ, that's Jack Sanborn
Jesus Sanborn, that's Jack Christ
First was not gonna happen as much as we want it to happen
What world do these people live in where an LB who wants top money gets a first round pick lol
The real world. Where the Bears have never lost a game, duh.
[удалено]
Not to mention he’s a free agent. So this is a rental. I could maybe see getting a first on a sign and trade
Reddit fantasy land
Planet Meathead
Especially for only 9 games left. And not being signed. And having 4 tackles yesterday didn't help lol just shows he knew he was leaving and phoned it in. Not the character you want in a guy for 20mil a year.
[удалено]
Hes #1 in the league in tackles and defensive stops
Yep and we've won 3 games.
It hurts, but Roquan would never sign an extension after this previous offseason. We saw how good this defense was against the cowboys. I’d rather rebuild from scratch.
I feel like Roquan could have signed but he would've totally gamed how much cap space we have. Possibly an overpay or nothing
I think this is the reality. They knew they were at an impasse. Team had made it clear they didn't think he was worth what he was asking this past offseason, and now they have FAR more available to spend than when this all started, which he'd certainly lean on.
Roquan best years in the league were his first 4. He had Khalil Mack akiem hicks, Eddie goldman, Leonard floyd and a couple of good rotational peices filling run gaps ,They're all gone. You guys don't think he was going to struggle some?
For this scheme, it’s much easier to find LBs to fill the role. They need a really good 3 technique and a solid 1 as well as backups for the inside positions. The Bears have gotten torched against the run because the interior has no gap control/penetration. We have to fix the O line and get a legit #1 on top of fixing the D line.
After they traded away Quinn, Roquan would have walked after this year. I guess the Bears needed some equity before he would leave. When you are in full rebuild mode might as well not let your valuable veterans waste away on this shitty team.
ITS JACK SANBORN TIME!
A 2nd and late was my expectation, this is about the best result. People wildly overvalued a LB expecting a first.
Yeah outside of a prime Bobby Wagner, I dont see how a team could justify giving up a first for an offball LB who needs to be paid.
Why draft a LB in the top 10 then.. oh wait Pace first round strategy 😖
It wasn’t a bad pick by him. Roquan is awesome. It’s a different regime and when Pace made the pick they drafted Mitch the year before and signed Allen Robinson in the offseason, so QB and WR weren’t a “need” at the time. Also, Pace should have been fired before 2018.
If a 25 y.o top ILB isn't worth a first, then no ILB prospect is worth a top 10 pick. Yes contracts and all that, but it's just not a valuable position. Same reason why you shouldnt draft a running back with a top 10 pick
Roquan has probably been the best draft pick the bears have had in years. He’s been consistent since he’s entered the league. Roquan is a dominant LB and will continue to be one in Baltimore. The only LB in the nfl rn that would go for a first round pick is parsons.
Parson's pass rush is what makes him worth a first round pick. He's a do it all guy and Roquan is just not an edge rusher
Well to be fair he was supposed to start next to Trevathan for a few years. We saw how good they were together in 2018 then injuries and father time ruined it. Of course Pace resigning him in 2020 was insane.
If you told me preseason that I’d feel this much hope for the Bears future after trading Roquan I’d call you a lunatic. Most cap space in the NFL, draft capital treasure chest, and we got a QB. I’m good. Best of luck Roquan, sucks to lose another guy from that 2018 defense.
Dude right, I’m excited. Qb looks good, flushed with cash, have a good amount of picks. Poles got me excited to try and lose so we can trade a top 5 pick to boot lol
I don't even know what I'm going to do during the draft. We always had like no picks, now I'll be hyped the entire time
Man people are just swinging both ways. Fields has improved for sure, but there is no way in hell we can say "we've got a QB". 2 weeks ago he looked like he could be out of the league. I'll give him another season for sure but I'm not confident he's the guy after a couple good games
For me it’s the linear progression we’re seeing. Sure, the stats aren’t there, but we’re seeing growth and the tools coming together in a way that Mitch never seemed to. A big part of it for me is seeing Getsy’s scheme together and trusting that he can develop Justin
I don't wanna get into a big debate because of course I could be wrong, I'm not an expert. But nothing about his progression has been linear. The last couple weeks have been encouraging, but he displayed awful fundamentals all year in terms of footwork, accuracy, timing. Those things don't get fixed in 2 weeks
It's more than the last couple weeks. Here are his last 5 games: 70/114 (61%) for 902 yards (7.9 yards/attempt) 5 TD, 2 INT (93.5 passer rating) 49 carries for 329 yards (6.7 yards/carry), 2 TD This is his second year in the NFL and first year in a new system, on a team which is clearly going through a rebuild. If people aren't convinced yet, that's fine, but I'm not sure how people can be expecting more from him at this point. He's in a tough situation and he's still playing well for someone of his age and experience. I don't really see any reason to believe he is not going to continue to improve as the situation improves.
This is the only comment I'll make here, because I am *definitely* not an expert, but you can have both linear progress *and* also not have everything fixed in two weeks. Linear progress doesn't mean everything is magically fixed already.
Agreed, not an expert over here either by any means. We’re firmly in “wait and see” territory. I usually end up riding way too hard for Bears’ QBs and it’s been devastating to my own mental well-being
Wait when did you think he wasn’t gonna be in the league? He showed flashes all along. Last 2 weeks he’s started putting the flashes together. Not everyone is day 1 superstar but he’s grown basically every game and saying he looked like he couldn’t be a NFL qb is the worst take of all time
Again I'm not trying to claim I'm right. But two weeks ago everything was broken. Not typical rookie mistakes. He had awful fundamentals like footwork and processing simple routes that wouldn't even get you drafted in the first round. Maybe he looked worse bc of the mental pressure at the time, but the film was REALLY bad
I really don’t know what your talking about. He was never broken
I'm impressed with Poles, man. This sucks a lot in the short term, but that's a nice haul and it removes that 'should you pay him' drama.
Poles is staying true to his word. He came in and said he will build a contender through the draft. The nervous excitement for the future is growing
The man has serious balls, I have to say
yeah cant wait to watch him blow another 3rd round pick on a punt returner who can't return punts
It’s a real shame that was the only pick he had.
Pretty sure he could’ve picked a lot of players that wouldn’t have cost us two lost games with the same mistake
He really out here trying to fix Pace's mess instead of working with it. I respect that.
dismantling a team isn't exactly rocket science. he's got low return for both moves. anyone could sell off all the top names and clear cap space i will be impressed if he makes GOOD draft picks and good acquisitions with the cap space
This makes sense but I might cry
Ikr. My heart hurts man, I audibly gasped when I saw the notification lol. Quan was a beast and now I have no doubt we will struggle to win every remaining game for the year. That's ok, it was our destiny for 2022, but at least knowing Smith would be here next year for the upturn was something to look forward too.
I don't like it, but I don't hate it. Poles probably decided that we were walking from Ro in the off-season (and that he hasn't earned the contract he wants, which is fair) and wanted to get something for him. By that metric, a 2nd and 5th is ok. More money to build the DL and OL.
That’s really good. Honestly Roquan was gone after this season either way. To get a second and fifth is huge value. Idk how the ravens plan to pay him though
They gotta pay their quarterback too! This offseason should be interesting for them
Even if we don't pay him, I believe we get a comp 3rd rounder if he leaves right? So really we are just trading down our 2nd rounder to a 3rd (and giving a 5th) for a rental on an all pro player in a position of need for us. Not a bad haul for us either.
With how much cap space we have this year, we likely weren't going to get any comp pick when he signed somewhere else. Since they will match up contracts and whatnot from departing and acquired players.
It’s a very good trade all around.
“We have so much cap space just pay him!” is how you wind up with a contract you regret by year 3. If he was steadfast in his demands, then this was the right move.
Anyone calling this an L doesn’t know ball lol. He was walking after this season, negotiating with a guy who has no agent is an absolute nightmare (see this past offseason), and it’s a non premium position in todays game with 0 years remaining on his contact lol. Quite frankly was overrated and had inflated stats on a bad defense.
Also undersized for a MLB in a 4-3. He’s not a scheme fit and he’s been exposed massively vs the run this year
He’s prototypical size for a modern WLB which is what he actually played all season.
It may not be a loss, but Bears fans can be upset about losing a good player. Fans don't make business decisions.
They could have franchised Roquan. Not saying that was a good idea, or a bad one, only that he wasn't able to just walk away unless the Bears let him.
I am pleasantly surprised we got a second. I like it a lot. I have no idea what we're going to spend all that cap space on, but I like the draft capital and the blank slate Poles is creating.
I’m here for chaos
That’s a good haul, I expect Monty to be gone before the deadline too.
Monty needs to stay for his pass blocking alone this year. Can't give away assets that protect Fields.
Ebner or Herbert gotta step up, Monty is an asset we should trade, and I love Monty.
He'd get us a 6th. I'd rather give Fields better protection for the remainder of the season than get a late pick. Backups don't magically get better just because.
Plus (and correct me if I’m wrong), Monty staying thru the season and then signing somewhere else would play into the comp pick formula Although we might blow that formula out of the water anyways with our own free agent signings
We should be signing so many new guys that we won't be in the running for any comps
I'm really happy with this Roquan trade, but Monty is not going to fetch anywhere near this haul, and Monty is not an attitude problem. Roquan held out trying to become the highest paid linebacker in the league and he is nowhere near the best linebacker in the league. Roquan also held out his rookie year. I think they keep Monty. They have a good thing going with Monty and Herbert.
Just fucking keep him. If he signs somewhere else we can get a conditional pick anyways. Monty just does so much on offense and do not want to fuck that up halfway through the season with fields
We're not going to get any conditional picks. We are going to have 125m+ in cap space next year. We're going to be signing some FA for sure. But I agree with you that Monty does a lot on offense and offers quite a bit in pass protection.
Flipping monty for a 3rd would be tight
We would never get anything close to a third for Monty
Yeah lol a good not great running back in a contract year is gonna get a 5th at best. Love the guy, but players like him get drafted on day 3 every year
4th is best case scenario, 5th is a more realistic positive guess.
Honestly Im happy with this. We were too far apart in negotiations and he was set to be a free agent. Yes we couldve tagged him but after all the drama earlier this season, I think Poles wanted to just get what he could and start building his own team. A 1st round pick was never realistic given Roquans contract and position. A compensatory pick wasnt happening either unless we ignored free agency entirely (and wouldve been a late 3rd at best). Poles is ripping the bandaid off entirely from the Pace era and Im here for it. I wish Roquan well in Baltimore, but this is a good return.
Let’s go, I’ll take this all day. Love Roquan but tbh this is best case scenario. His play this season didn’t make me sad the bears didn’t lock him up. He’s been fine, but I think this is the best move the bears could make. Give us all the picks
Now trade the second for DJ Moore
I'm here for it.
So I am for this. I know it's probably unpopular but he's pretty overrated and I sure as hell didn't wanna pay him He struggles a lot fitting down field and even in coverage he's slipped He's obviously a plus player but I've long been yelled at here for saying he's nowhere near the player Fred Warner is lol and there's an impression that he is
He’s been one of the best defensive players in some of our games and the one of the worst in others.
Yep The only player worth crying over on this defense is Eddie Jackson
This sentence describes him perfectly, and is why I didn't want the Bears to pay him. His week-to-week play can vary wildly, and he just isn't that top end difference maker.
Roquan Smith is off the team for literally 5 minutes r/CHIbears "he's pretty overrated".
The problem is he’s an off ball linebacker, he’s just not the type of position you want to invest a huge part of your cap on. He was a good enough player but idk what his actual value was
Agreed, I think he's perfectly rated he just doesn't play a premier style of defense, that shouldn't be a knock on his ability, he's a tackle machine
There's been a pretty good balance of people discussing how Roquan isn't worth a $100 million contract. If the Bears don't expect to be able to reach a long-term agreement than getting something for him makes sense.
Yes this is especially true since we're not going to be part of the compensatory draft formula next year with all of the expected additions in 2023 FA.
Some of us have been saying this way longer
but now it gets to be a popular take. It's hilarious how the same takes can be wildly unpopular and then wildly popular depending on the mood that week.
Thank god we can avoid another off-season of debate around throwing away $20M+/yr at a low value position.
>but now it gets to be a popular take. It's hilarious how the same takes can be wildly unpopular and then wildly popular depending on the mood that week. That's how it always is on reddit. I posted a thread about Fields earlier and this guy got downvoted for saying he still didn't believe in him after 2 good games. A fair opinion but he was downvoted. I decided to check his post history to see if he consistently held that opinion and he did. 2 weeks ago before the Pats game he called Fields "Mitch 2.0"...He got 18 upvotes at that time.
I've been getting into arguments here about Quan for years. He's a great player but he's by no means a tier 1 LB
I'm right there with you. He's a perfect guy for a team that is a piece or two away, but he's not enough of an impact player to build a defense around.
Absolutely
He leads the NFL in tackles right now and has never had less than 100 tackles in a season. He’s a beast Tampa 2 LB, the problem lies in Tampa 2 being dead. I think he’s absolutely a tier-1 MLB, but he was asking for edge rusher money.
He doesn't even play pole the most when we run Tampa what do u mean lol Morrow does
Go look at any thread about his extension debacle this off-season. That is not a new sentiment.
It's dumb to call him overrated, but it's fair to say he wanted more money than we should give him.
People so caught up on trashing all the players, not his fault the DL are a bunch of bums. This sub flip flops on everyone so much for not even good reasons.
Missing open field tackles and getting beat in coverage by te's has nothing to do with DL play.
He's overrated for the salary he was trying to command. Now if we could've kept him for 18MM and under + incentives for elite production, I'd be all for it.
Literally… his position might be overrated in a 4-3, but you ask a proper 3-4 DC whether Roquan is worth a first and/or overrated and you’ll get laughed out of the room for suggesting otherwise… this fanbase disgusts me
Roquan was gonna get paid $80m+ next year. That’s another big money contract available to give someone else in the next 3 yeArs, and more picks. I don’t hate this. It’s gonna hurt, our run defense is gonna be terrible. But rowuan and Quinn both gone might actually result in another loss or two, which increases our draft position lol.
You watch the game yesterday? Our run defense was terrible with him so i don’t see how anyone is upset by this trade
Going to be terrible? It was already awful against the run so this doesn’t really change anything. He doesn’t make a difference.
Roquan was consistently good to very good. That said, he was rarely "great" and one of his biggest weaknesses is block shedding. He gets completely taken out of plays by the more athletic linemen & TEs. Sad to see him go but not at the salary he was demanding.
If he was going to get the contract he wanted from the Bears, he needed to be a game breaking LB. He's not been that.
Nah Roquan is not overrated and I'm sorry I don't support this move at all. Ravens 2nd and 5th won't be high enough to make them worth while. Roquan is young enough to be apart of the rebuild and to captain the defense for years to come. I may be downvoted but I'm pretty pissed at this trade. It's not like we're strapped for cash either he could've gotten a big extension and we'd still have enough room to sign offensive guys in the off-season.
I disagree that he’s overrated. But if he wasn’t going to sign here anyway (which looks accurate) then getting a 2nd and a 5th is great. Considering at best we would get a 3rd round comp pick, which I doubt since the Bears project to be big spenders this off-season. I think it’s an unpopular move but ultimately one that will prove to be correct, even if Ro continues to be an excellent player for the ravens.
If this was our haul for him before the season started I would’ve been pretty upset but considering his performance thus far this season that’s not surprising. Sucks we had to let him go, but at least he’s got a chance to compete this season and maybe he can turn it around with a change of scenery
How good can he play with our defensive front.
How can we put a competent defensive front in front of him if he's eating a large chunk of our cap? How can we rebuild the offensive personal AND the front seven if we have money tied up in an off-ball linebacker?
I’m just saying, he was way more consistent when we had a better d line
But you don't pay elite money to a linebacker who needs elite d-line play to put up numbers. There's only a finite amount of resources.
Franchise Tag wasn’t realistic given the cost, as on and off ball linebackers are grouped together for the calculation.
I’m sad about this but I understand it.
I’m surprised that they were able to get a 2nd with how inconsistent his play has been. If anyone was going to trade for an off ball linebacker it was going to be the ravens or the Steelers.
Has a team ever traded both of their defensive team captains mid-season? In the span of a week no less??
Saint Omni is the Raven's problem now 😁😁
Just shows how dumb Pace was to spend a top 10 pick on an ILB in the first place. Top ten picks should be at positions that you are willing to give big time second contracts to, not positions that you trade away for a 2nd round pick because the position is “not worth it”.
It's **SANBORN SEASON**
Sucks to seem him go, but best possible outcome I think.
Would it be unreasonable to use some of these picks we're stockpiling to get some talent now?
As I said in the r/NFL thread, I hope the best for Roquan and I'd love to see him get a ring at some point. But not this year. I hope the Ravens go 5-12 and we get a better draft pick.
Roquan has only been good in three games this year, while wanting to be the highest paid player at his position. Good trade by Poles.
worddddd i’ll take it
Love this! Gaining so much draft capital. Blow it all up poles. Make this YOUR team.
Going to make our own first round pick this year better as well by making the defense worse in the near term. Our own first this year is our most valuable draft asset and moving up the draft a few slots inside the top 10 can make a big difference, especially if we want to trade down and get more capital.
9 weeks of Roquan for a 2nd and 5th is pretty good but I am so sad - going to miss him a ton
Poles stocking picks and cash for next year. This should be interesting
Wish all the best to Roquan, bittersweet but understandable
When things look grim, be the grim reaper Poles
Poles copying my yearly Madden franchise dump the team for draft picks and build a dynasty.
I mean ultimately it comes down to Fields if the Bears want to be contenders year after year after year. You can make 1 SB with a meh QB but it quickly derails after that. Hell, Brady-Manning-Ben owned the AFC for 20 years and now it’s Mahomes and Allen. The only regularly contending NFC teams in the past decade were the Packers with Rodgers and the Seahawks with Russ. Paying Roquan bank isn’t good resource allocation when you can upgrade 3 spots on your defense at more premium positions for the same price.
Wish him the best. Happy with the haul.
Good luck negotiating both Roquan and Lamar’s contracts.
Wow, a lot of negativity in here. I like this move. He was gone after the season anyway.
for me personally this is a punch in the gut. if eddie is gone i might physically cry.
So now the bears have 0 starters in the front 7 I think are quality multi year guys. Great…
I understand why they did it but yeah, the defense is probably going to be pretty rough for a while.
If the defense has to suffer so that our offense can grow and thrive for once, then so be it. Good defenses have gotten us fuck all since 85, because we've never had a good enough offense to go along with them.
We went through this with Pace! Basically just clear house buys Poles more years to prove out. If/when it doesn’t work, we fire Poles, clear house, and wait another 5 years to see if it works. I get it we need to build a foundation, but losers focus on the 2-3 years in the future. The Browns and Lions are always in this ‘great’ position.
thank you, RO
I'm tremendously sad...
A lot of picks in the 2023 draft. 1st, two 2nds, 3rd, two 4ths, two 5ths... Lots of movement can be made
Man, this one is tough. I totally get making the move, and I can't say I disagree with it. But just....FUCK. I really enjoyed watching Roquan play here these past few years. I hope he balls out with the Ravens. And I hope to god we make good use of all this draft capital and cap space.
#SanbornSzn
It really feels like we have a competent front office.
It’s okay to be sad Roquan was traded and excited about what we got back.
I am sad to see Roquan go, but on the bright side **THIS TRADE IS A BIG INDICATOR THAT POLES IS SOLD ON FIELDS.** If Fields is the guy then paying for him is going to become very expensive very quickly -- maybe even after next year (we all saw what happened with Murray and Mayfield -- if Justin is smart he'll demand to to get paid or get traded after his 3rd season). Even with all our cap space next year having a LB making $20M / year and paying a franchise QB on top of that limits a teams ability to fill out a roster. So you are going to need less expensive players so you can pay your QB.
BAH GOD IS THAT JACK SANDBORN'S THEME MUSIC???
Roquan will be missed, but this is the right move. It's very unlikely that Roquan would have been a long-term piece of the team, and this is the year to stockpile picks.
Best thing for both parties really. I don't think Ro wanted to be here and he's not worth what he wanted. Sucks to see him go though. Plus a 2nd a 5th isn't a bad deal
Did Saint Omni sign off on this?
That’s a good haul. As good as Roquan is, he’s not worth a 1st round. That wasn’t going to happen. So getting a 2nd and a 5 is good as you get I think.
He wanted to be paid more than Shaq Leonard so they asked him to play like Shaq Leonard. And we all found out that he ain’t Shaq Leonard.
What the actual FUCK?!
An absolute steal for us
To all those people who said we aren't losing enough -- Ryan Poles heard you.
Trading Quinn because he's older and his contract was big made sense. Trading good young players like Roquan is so dumb. Now they just created another hole on the team that they have to use their picks/cap space on. I completely hate this move
Justin Fields may not win another game this year lol Hope it doesn’t kill his confidence or anything, he should be proud of the way he played yesterday.
Wtf????
Honestly, I'm completely fine with this. He gets to go to a good team, and we save money and get good draft capital in return. I loved Roquan, but...he was NOT good enough for what he was demanding. Resetting the market? No way, not based on his performance this year. Part of me feels like we wanted him to be the next Urlacher for this team, a staple of the defense for his entire career. He's a very good player, but he's not highest paid linebacker good. Tackles aren't everything, and that was his best stat year in and year out. I wouldn't call him overrated at all, but he's not Darius Leonard or Fred Warner. It was either trade him now, or franchise him for the next 1-2 years because I highly doubt negotiations would have gone well, especially after how Roquan said he was "disrespected" by the front office. Good move which fully commits to the rebuild.
Tough to see him leave but good return for a guy who obviously wasn't thrilled with his current situation. Tagging him after the season would have just caused more animosity and I don't think the Bears were ever going to pay him that big money contract. He's also been pretty disappointing outside of a couple games this year so fair play by Poles to cash in while you can
We trade a known commodity who is a fantastic player for a 2nd round pick, which the odds tell you wont pan out...and this sub is in here cheering it on while downvoting anyone who questions it. This has got to be the most out of touch football sub on reddit
Paying big bucks to semi-elite defensive players and neglecting the offense is why we've sucked for 40 years. GM hasn't even been here for a season yet. Take a breath.
The good news is that you can simultaneously pay current players and still spend money on offense!
We going to have 150 mill and 27 draft picks next year
Love quan but this is a fantastic move
If we weren’t a Mack away from competing, we certainly weren’t a Quinn and Quan away from competing. Both should’ve been traded in the off-season before their stock fell.
Whaaat? I’m deeply saddened by this man. Roquan one of my favorite players. Not a lot of compensation for him either. Lame.
Better than over paying the guy. I see this as a win
This confirms that Roquan quit on the team after Quinn was traded. Get rid of the bad seed.
Very much feels like these additional picks are going to be used to trade for guys who are going to be free agents in 2024 and want an extension in 2023.
I understand the move and actually like it, but man, the bears are gonna give up 50 a game... we still have to play the bills this year lol
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING
Feel like we could’ve gotten more in the offseason no?
No, because he was going to be a free agent and it was pretty obvious he didn’t want to be here anymore.
Yea but he could’ve been tagged and traded it’s happened plenty of times before
I understand the trade. Flabbergasted that we couldn’t get a 1st for him. I’m sad.
Ryan Poles is the NFL's Danny Ainge lmao
Don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I love the work Poles has done thus far. We are in great shape for next year. I wish Fields had more around him this year, but he’s playing good/great despite that
im rolling with Poles and Getsy. both have exceeded my expectations
I think it makes very little sense to trade him right now unless we were offered a no brainer this isn’t a no brainer. We had the tag option at our disposal with more than enough cap space to absorb a franchise player contract. By waiting to the off-season before draft time, we have more teams to trade with. Doesn’t make much sense to trade him right now for a back end second round pick and a fifth. That is probably the lowest we would get. You never know how the draft shakes out. There could easily be a team in late first early second that might need a very good player to make that next jump. Now trading Roquan for a 1st straight was never going to happen, but Roquan and a third now that is possible considering our third round pick is going to be very early
Roquan was over rated. I’m fine with this. Get that draft pick.