After failed contract negotiations Roquan Smith draws the consequences and wants to leave the Chicago Bears. He accuses the new management of a lack of understanding

Munich/Chicago – Bitter news for the fans of the Chicago Bears. Crowd favourite Roquan Smith has demanded a trade from the club.

Via social media, the linebacker let it be known that he saw no other chance after negotiations with the new athletic leadership around general manager Ryan Poles failed.

“She refused to negotiate with me in good conscience, every single move was, ‘Take it or leave it.’ The draft contract I received would have been bad for me and all linebackers,” Smith wrote.

Roquan Smith feels unappreciated by Chicago Bears

Smith was drafted in the first round by the Bears in 2018, achieved All Pro status in his first four years in the NFL and should have been the central building block in the upcoming season under new head coach Matt Eberflus, much like Darius Leonard was with the Indianapolis Colts.

“I wanted to be a Bear my whole career, help the team, bring the Super Bowl back to this city. But it left me no choice but to demand a trade so I could play for a club that values me,”, Smith blamed the sporting leadership.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the McCaskey family of owners yet, and maybe they can smooth things over, but right now I don’t see a way back. “

2021 best season of his four-year career

Smith, who had 525 tackles in 61 games this season, had his best season for the Bears last season with 163 tackles, three sacks, an interception returned 53 yards for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals. Before last season, the Bears had pulled the option on a fifth year of his rookie contract.

Roquan Smith has requested a trade from the Bears, saying they’ve “refused to negotiate in good faith” during contract talks @brgridiron pic.twitter.com/MA7qGcTRPF

– Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 9, 2022

This is now set to expire at the end of next season, so negotiations for a new contract were on the table this offseason.