Roquan Smith News

[dplank]

Read on the Twitters that he wants a new deal before playing in a new system. Is there a way to extend him and free up cap this year so we can nab one of these remaining OT’s?

[TheWorldBreaker]

Read on the Twitters that he wants a new deal before playing in a new system. Is there a way to extend him and free up cap this year so we can nab one of these remaining OT’s?

It was an April Fool’s joke. The original author of the tweet said a decision would be made by April 31st but there are only 30 days in April.

Unfortunately, you can’t believe anything on Twitter today.

But to answer your question yes they could free up some case based on how they would structure the contract.

[mmmc_35]

Funny because there is enough in it to have the possibility of truth.

[dplank]

[Grizzled]

Perhaps next year if they don't reach an extension. Don't know if they would tag or tender him or if he'd play under a tag. Top 3 LB salaries are $17, 19 and 19.5M with $27 to $43M guaranteed. The highest is Darius Leonard, who played for Flus in Indy.

[UOK]

I'm not worried about it. They'll get him signed after the draft.

[malagabears]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/inside ... oney-deals

Expect talks between the Bears and Smith to heat up some time this summer. Even other Bears players close to free agency believe Smith is the priority for Chicago and new GM Ryan Pace. Smith has worked his way into top-10 linebacker status thanks to versatility and production. He has compiled 14 sacks, 17 pass deflections and five interceptions on his way to back-to-back second-team All-Pro nods.

With the top of the linebacker market approaching $20 million annually, Smith should push that number. He doesn't have an agent and will essentially negotiate on his own behalf, but he showed up to offseason workouts as a sign of good faith.

I'm guessing around a 5/85M with 50M guaranteed & a 20M signing bonus. 1st year CAP hit could be 8M w/ 3M salary.

[UOK]

He'll get paid this summer, and deservedly so.

[Heinz D.]

He'll get paid this summer, and deservedly so.

I certainly hope so...we don't need ANY drama surrounding Smith's contract situation. That's, like, the ONLY no-brainer issue before Poles right now.

Or should be.

[dplank]

[AZ_Bearfan]

No agent? Is that a thing now?

[Heinz D.]

No agent? Is that a thing now?

Not really. A little thing, I guess? I'm fairly sure a couple of other guys do it--but it's not widespread.

It should be, though. The way the contract structures work nowadays is generally not that weird, and these guys are more than smart enough (by and large) to figure things out on their own.

[IotaNet]

No agent? Is that a thing now?

Not really. A little thing, I guess? I'm fairly sure a couple of other guys do it--but it's not widespread.

It should be, though. The way the contract structures work nowadays is generally not that weird, and these guys are more than smart enough (by and large) to figure things out on their own.

I hardly think they are doing contracts “on their own.” Players today are sophisticated enough to have legal and financial representation up the wazoo. If he has the right kinds, he doesn’t need an agent — they can handle his contract review and analysis. And he’s probably not paying them 10-20% for the privilege.

[The Marshall Plan]

I could be wrong but Roquan doesn’t strike me as an idiot.

Get the Top 5 contracts at his position and an inflator because of cap inflation. Add some extra padding to the number, walk in there and say “Fuck you pay me.”

He’s a prime of his career linebacker. Somebody is going to pay him. In his case I can see why he doesn’t need a agent. A lawyer probably just to be safe, but nobody that’s going to want 20%. Forget that.

[Bearfacts]

Not really. A little thing, I guess? I'm fairly sure a couple of other guys do it--but it's not widespread.

It should be, though. The way the contract structures work nowadays is generally not that weird, and these guys are more than smart enough (by and large) to figure things out on their own.

I hardly think they are doing contracts “on their own.” Players today are sophisticated enough to have legal and financial representation up the wazoo. If he has the right kinds, he doesn’t need an agent — they can handle his contract review and analysis. And he’s probably not paying them 10-20% for the privilege.

Spot on. While based on what I've read sports agents typically get about 3% for their services I would have to believe many players also employ tax professionals and other financial advisors who can help them with contract negotiations and structure. I've done some work for a CPA who had a couple of pro athletes as clients.

Smith could just as easily have a personal financial advisor helping him with negotiations and avoid hiring sports agent altogether.

[Xee]

I hardly think they are doing contracts “on their own.” Players today are sophisticated enough to have legal and financial representation up the wazoo. If he has the right kinds, he doesn’t need an agent — they can handle his contract review and analysis. And he’s probably not paying them 10-20% for the privilege.

Spot on. While based on what I've read sports agents typically get about 3% for their services I would have to believe many players also employ tax professionals and other financial advisors who can help them with contract negotiations and structure. I've done some work for a CPA who had a couple of pro athletes as clients.

Smith could just as easily have a personal financial advisor helping him with negotiations and avoid hiring sports agent altogether.

I always thought the value of agents was almost secretarial in that, if you're in free agency, and you're dealing with potentially a lot of suitors, do you want to be doing the work of managing all the offers, communicating with each team individually, etc?

If you plan on staying with a current team though and consider yourself a good negotiator then yeah, I could see not needing an agent.

[Bearfacts]

Spot on. While based on what I've read sports agents typically get about 3% for their services I would have to believe many players also employ tax professionals and other financial advisors who can help them with contract negotiations and structure. I've done some work for a CPA who had a couple of pro athletes as clients.

Smith could just as easily have a personal financial advisor helping him with negotiations and avoid hiring sports agent altogether.

I always thought the value of agents was almost secretarial in that, if you're in free agency, and you're dealing with potentially a lot of suitors, do you want to be doing the work of managing all the offers, communicating with each team individually, etc?

If you plan on staying with a current team though and consider yourself a good negotiator then yeah, I could see not needing an agent.

I'm with you on this. The other reason a player could employ his agent for contract negotiations even with his own team is having a discomfort dealing with it himself. I've been hired by clients to negotiate auto purchases and leases for them and real estate transactions simply because they were uncomfortable doing it themselves and believed I could negotiate a more favorable deal.

But in many case if a player is a well known starter he may also be getting offers for endorsements, paid public appearances, and other types of compensation not directly related to his primary job as a player. Having an agent and that agents staff to deal with those issue may be worth more than the cost of employing the agent. It's always an option but seldom a requirement.

[Yogi da Bear]

I think most players simply don't want to deal with it. They just want to concentrate on getting themselves right on the field and athletically and let somebody else deal with it. That's why when asked about how negotiations are going, so many simply say it's in my agent's corner and I have nothing to do with it.

[Bearfacts]

I think most players simply don't want to deal with it. They just want to concentrate on getting themselves right on the field and athletically and let somebody else deal with it. That's why when asked about how negotiations are going, so many simply say it's in my agent's corner and I have nothing to do with it.

And that's the flip side of it Yogi. They prefer someone else deal with the business aspect of it while they deal with the athletic aspect. The other thing that comes to mind is does anyone really want to sit in on a negotiation where your agent is pushing one set of numbers and the other side is downplaying your importance or your performance? To me that would be like being on trial as a defendant where the plaintiff is trying to make you the bad guy and your attorney is doing what he can to defend you against that.

[Yogi da Bear]

That's a helluvan apt analogy BF.

[RichH55]

I think most players simply don't want to deal with it. They just want to concentrate on getting themselves right on the field and athletically and let somebody else deal with it. That's why when asked about how negotiations are going, so many simply say it's in my agent's corner and I have nothing to do with it.

And that's the flip side of it Yogi. They prefer someone else deal with the business aspect of it while they deal with the athletic aspect. The other thing that comes to mind is does anyone really want to sit in on a negotiation where your agent is pushing one set of numbers and the other side is downplaying your importance or your performance? To me that would be like being on trial as a defendant where the plaintiff is trying to make you the bad guy and your attorney is doing what he can to defend you against that.

This is a real issue in Baseball Arbitration - It's not even the give and take of a contract negotiation - it's literally they are making their case against the player with him sitting there.

Recipe for bad blood

[Bearfacts]

And that's the flip side of it Yogi. They prefer someone else deal with the business aspect of it while they deal with the athletic aspect. The other thing that comes to mind is does anyone really want to sit in on a negotiation where your agent is pushing one set of numbers and the other side is downplaying your importance or your performance? To me that would be like being on trial as a defendant where the plaintiff is trying to make you the bad guy and your attorney is doing what he can to defend you against that.

This is a real issue in Baseball Arbitration - It's not even the give and take of a contract negotiation - it's literally they are making their case against the player with him sitting there.

Recipe for bad blood

True.

[The Cooler King]

It's going over 20 IMO.

[wab]

[Xee]

There's absolutely no information to go off of here so this is definitely a wait and see thing. Obviously really hoping this is not true.

[Grizzled]

Agents don't get 20%, typically more like 4 to 10%. One of their jobs is to find endorsements also. Darius Leonard is the highest paid LB to compare Roquan with, I don't count the guys who are more like DEs although they technically play LB in a 3-4. His is $98.5M total, $52.5M guaranteed, $19.7M per year. Fred Warner is next at $95.2M - $40.5M - $19M. Have to assume Roquan will want the highest.

[wab]

There's absolutely no information to go off of here so this is definitely a wait and see thing. Obviously really hoping this is not true.

Agreed. But it's out there now.

[mmmc_35]

This girl accusing Roquan Smith is currently 18 years old and he is 25. She claims this happened when she was 15. She would have been a freshman in high school and he would be 22 years old and a rookie in the NFL.

Look no accusations are good, but that type of allegation is horrible. I'm not adding validity to anything, but that it's out there certainly effects things.

[IE]

You know this is going to devolve into the exact conversation as the Watson thread, right? People can't help it. I suggest we avoid the allegations other than the context of it being just another risk to paying anyone a giant wad of money in advance for anything (e.g. other risks being injury, effort after getting paid).

[Atkins&Rebel]

I always question when accusations pop up as someone is about to get paid.
He did have a few weird things go on off the field his rookie year and missed a game due to personal reasons, but there's no way to think they are related to this girl.
But Roquan can't be extended as long as this stink is on him.