Official: Bears sign Roquan Smith

Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:45 am

@RapSheet
#Bears first-round LB Roquan Smith is not with the team as the rookies report for training camp today, sources say. It’s not officially a holdout until the veterans are due on July 19, but Smith doesn’t have a deal yet. So he’s staying away until it happens.

mmmc_35 · Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:48 am

How does this happen with the rookie scale?

Should have drafted Edmunds.

Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:53 am

mmmc_35 wrote:How does this happen with the rookie scale?

Should have drafted Edmunds.

The Bears presumably hope to have their first-round pick signed by Thursday when veterans report to training camp. Given that rookie contracts are determined by a wage scale, any disagreement between Smith and the team likely involves injury offset language.

Don't forget that Trubisky didn't sign until the day rookies were due to report. I wouldn't be surprised if Smith does the same.

mmmc_35 · Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:58 am

Don't you Judge Judy eye roll me Mr. I'll stop this car right now, and come back there to whoop your ass.

Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:13 am

mmmc_35 wrote:Don't you Judge Judy eye roll me Mr. I'll stop this car right now, and come back there to whoop your ass.

Haha, eyes on the road.

Mikefive · Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:06 am

Gotta say it... The Judge Judy thing was perfect.

I think this holdout thing will end up being a whole lot of nothing.

Otis Day · Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:17 am

Bears have always been one of the top teams in getting their rooks signed early and by camp. No worries.

Z Bear · Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:36 am

He is mad because we are trying to make him reimburse us for the iPad he got stolen.

Richie · Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:10 pm

If this is still an issue 5-6 days after veteran's report, I'll get a bit anxious. Until then... meh

GSH · Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:23 pm

Aren't we also starting camp a couple weeks earlier than others due to the HOF game?

Z Bear · Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:56 am

1 week, just about everyone else in the NFL reports next Thursday

Atkins&Rebel · Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:59 pm

Being a smallerish LB, the less he has to take punishment in TC the better in my book.

GSH · Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:33 pm

Atkins&Rebel wrote:Being a smallerish LB, the less he has to take punishment in TC the better in my book.

That and it would be so Bears-y for our round #1 pick to get fucked up in TC and miss the first half of the season

WP.1 · Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:54 am

The Bears LB for the next 10 years and worry about some training camp battle?

The lost time learning the defense is a problem.

dplank · Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:54 am

I want to see him suit up and play in the HOF game. He's a rookie and needs reps, Bears need to get this done. The extra PS game is a benefit to us, let's use it and be slightly ahead of the Pack opening night!

G08 · Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:55 pm

If he wants to be there, he'll tell his management team/agent to get a deal done.

It'll be fucking annoying if he decides to hold out. Fucking. Annoying.

LacertineForest · Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:09 am

In case anyone is wondering what the holdup is - of course it's purely speculation without any inside knowledge, but I believe this is probably true:

Roquan Smith standoff likely less about offsets, more about structure

Hope they announce something this morning and they get him in there ASAP.

Richie · Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:30 pm

Far from nervous at this point - but certainly getting a tad antsy.

Hopefully something is done by the end of this weekend.

G08 · Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:16 pm

Well... this fucking sucks.

Tue Jul 24, 2018 9:12 am

Eh, I don't see this as a big deal.

Otis Day · Tue Jul 24, 2018 9:25 am

Me either. If he can play, he will play. Holdouts, while not an every season thing for the Bears, are not that big of a deal anymore.

Richie · Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:35 am

I agree that it's not a big deal... but it's just kind of annoying. It's like your laptop freezing up for a minute. You know it'll be fine, but "What the fuck? Come on!" lol

Mikefive · Tue Jul 24, 2018 1:10 pm

Richie wrote:I agree that it's not a big deal... but it's just kind of annoying. It's like your laptop freezing up for a minute. You know it'll be fine, but "What the fuck? Come on!" lol

I pretty well feel the same way... Especially since Travathan is out. You know Smith would be running with the 1s and making the calls.

The Marshall Plan · Wed Jul 25, 2018 5:08 am

Roquan Smith was drafted to be the captain of our defense and our MLB for the next decade.

In my opinion so far he has displayed anything but that capability. Whether its having the iPad and other stuff stolen out of his car or the holdout. These could be warning signs.

Leaders are held to a higher standard. That's why they're leaders. We didn't draft a prima donna WR or CB where things like this come with the territory. We drafted a supposed blue chip leader who will be our captain eventually.

VA_Mountain_Bear · Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:17 am

The Marshall Plan wrote:Roquan Smith was drafted to be the captain of our defense and our MLB for the next decade.

In my opinion so far he has displayed anything but that capability. Whether its having the iPad and other stuff stolen out of his car or the holdout. These could be warning signs.

Leaders are held to a higher standard. That's why they're leaders. We didn't draft a prima donna WR or CB where things like this come with the territory. We drafted a supposed blue chip leader who will be our captain eventually.

Doom. Doooooom DOOM!

It's haggling over language and he has the same agency representing him that did Joey Bosa...so don't expect it to change too quickly.

Mikefive · Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:42 am

The Marshall Plan wrote:Roquan Smith was drafted to be the captain of our defense and our MLB for the next decade.

In my opinion so far he has displayed anything but that capability. Whether its having the iPad and other stuff stolen out of his car or the holdout. These could be warning signs.

Leaders are held to a higher standard. That's why they're leaders. We didn't draft a prima donna WR or CB where things like this come with the territory. We drafted a supposed blue chip leader who will be our captain eventually.

If he was a knucklehead in college, I'd feel the same way. But there's zero indication of that, so I'm chalking up the one bad incident as simply a mistake that he will learn from. All he was guilty of is not locking his car when it needed to be. That's a pretty small event.

As far as the holdout goes, it's a business and his career won't be affected long term by holding out a few days. Leaders should stand up for themselves instead of just taking what's offered if they aren't happy with it.

It's not that I think your points are inherently wrong. But there's more to the RS story than those two things and I think looking at the whole picture offers a different outlook than what you're fearing. We'll see, I guess.

Otis Day · Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:06 am

Good points Mikefive.

Football is a business and can be a short career. The guy has got to look out for his best interests, himself and his future.

Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:49 am

The Marshall Plan wrote:Roquan Smith was drafted to be the captain of our defense and our MLB for the next decade.

In my opinion so far he has displayed anything but that capability. Whether its having the iPad and other stuff stolen out of his car or the holdout. These could be warning signs.

Leaders are held to a higher standard. That's why they're leaders. We didn't draft a prima donna WR or CB where things like this come with the territory. We drafted a supposed blue chip leader who will be our captain eventually.

He's not going to just take it up the tailpipe in contract negotiations just because he's a leader. He's one weird hit away from being Ryan Shazier or Johnny Knox. If he wants to get the clauses and language to the point he's comfortable with them in what could potentially be his only NFL contract, then he has to do that.

This isn't a thing.

BlueAndOrangeDog · Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:52 am

Number 7 and number 9 are signed now.

There's really no excuse not to get this done.

Cliff Stein would have had this done months ago.

Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:53 am

The Marshall Plan wrote:Roquan Smith was drafted to be the captain of our defense and our MLB for the next decade.

In my opinion so far he has displayed anything but that capability. Whether its having the iPad and other stuff stolen out of his car or the holdout. These could be warning signs.

Leaders are held to a higher standard. That's why they're leaders. We didn't draft a prima donna WR or CB where things like this come with the territory. We drafted a supposed blue chip leader who will be our captain eventually.

Not to be a dick, but this is a really heavy-handed take.

You MUST separate the business aspect of the game away from the intangible personal stuff. This isn't a "I want more money" holdout, as rookies have no leverage in this thanks to the wage scale. This is tedium, fine language stuff.

https://www.si.com/mmqb/2017/05/16/nfl- ... fine-print" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This article has a lot of good stuff on what's happening with Smith and the Bears that should help illuminate what's happening. Don't get wrapped up in this "HE'S NO LEADER, GREEDY JERK" nonsense.

BlueAndOrangeDog wrote:Number 7 and number 9 are signed now.

There's really no excuse not to get this done.

Cliff Stein would have had this done months ago.

Cliff Stein still works for the Bears. He doesn't handle contracts specifically anymore, but again - this is nitpicking stuff just looking to the point the finger in blame. If you're upset with anyone, be upset with Roquan's agents/representatives.