Bears Continue Purge of Ryan Pace Regime

The Bears apparently decided they could play bad defense just as well without Roquan Smith as they did with him.

On Monday, a day after one of his poorest games as a Chicago Bears player, Smith was traded to the Baltimore Ravens for a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN. The deal also sent 31-year-old, 10-year veteran linebacker A.J. Klein to the Bears as a throw-in.

Smith had a season-low five tackles against the Dallas Cowboys in 49-29 loss.

GM Ryan Poles had said he wanted to keep Robert Quinn around, but when he traded the pass rusher anyway it should have been clear Smith better have his head on a swivel.

After all, Poles said he didn't have plans to trade Smith following a training camp holdout in which he sought a contract similar to what Indianapolis linebacker Shaq Leonard received, in the vicinity of $100 million for five years.

Smith's departure in his fifth season leaves the Bears without the player they once insisted was the weakside linebacker they needed for this defensive scheme.

Opinions apparently changed quickly and Smith wasn't going to be the Leonard clone they hoped he could be for their 4-3 cover-2 style defense.

The Bears had drafted Smith seventh overall in 2018 during the Ryan Pace era and he was an impact player at times but his performance led to a great debate. Smith never seemed to live up to what the analytics and Pro Football Focus crowd expected because he generally had low numbers but his base statistical performance was always high. PFF has him graded as the 67th best linebacker in the league this year as of Monday, a ranking similar to last year.

However, Smith's tackles production always was high and he leads the NFL this year with 83 tackles, even after playing what he admitted was a terrible game against Dallas on Sunday with a season-low five tackles. Smith also has 2 1/2 sacks on the year, second on the team to safety Jaquan Brisker (3).

When the Bears brought in new coaches who used a 4-3 defense instead of a 3-4, the feeling was Smith's role would change. Eberflus' moved Smith from inside linebacker to the role Derrick Brooks and Lance Briggs had played in the 4-3 defense on the weakside and he made a key interception to deliver a win over Houston in Week 3.

By and large, though, Smith's play was mediocre despite leading the NFL in tackles going into last week. He made the play to win the Houston game and had a strong game against New England.

Smith leaves the Bears after making 607 tackles, including 47 for loss. This year he had just four tackles for loss at a position lending itself to making plays behind the line.

Now the Bears have two second-round picks, two fourth-round picks and two fifth-round picks for next year as well as one pick for the first, third and seventh rounds.

Team officials said GM Ryan Poles would not have a comment on the situation until Tuesday at the earliest.

Smith was due $9.735 million in this, the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. All of it is guaranteed salary.

The next two linebackers up in line for starting with Smith gone are Sterling Weatherford and Jack Sanborn but they could also use veteran Joe Thomas at the position, as well.

Once Klein is up on what they do defensively, he is another potential starter.

Klein is a backup for the Ravens who has started in the past for the Saints for three years. He has started 81 times in 136 games and originally was a fifth-round pick for Carolina in 2013.

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