Roquan Smith Aims to Put on National TV Show

For Roquan Smith, Monday night's game against the New England Patriots represents a final attempt to put for national TV the skills he says make him "...the best in the league at what I'm doing."

Smith does lead the league in tackles with 66 but whether he's having the kind of impact he has had in other years is open for debate. He has only two tackles for loss in his first year as a weak side linebacker after making 43 in his first four NFL seasons playing inside linebacker in a 3-4.

In an interview over the weekend with Roku Channel's Rich Eisen, he gave an indication he is trying to impress more than just the Bears and fans.

Other teams who might be interested parties could be a target, whether it be in free agency next year or in a trade.

"I would just say showcasing for all my supporters out there that know and believe I'm the best in the game and also for myself," Smith said. "It's never a bad thing to keep showing yourself over and over."

He said he's trying to prove something for someone else, but if Eisen was trying to press Smith a bit into saying he wants to leave or expects to be traded then he failed.

"Ah yeah, definitely and for the doubters who think they may have seen me but haven't really paid much attention," Smith said. "So it will be great. I'm looking forward to it."

Bears LB Roquan Smith on Facing Belichick; His Uncertain Future in Chicago | The Rich Eisen Showhttps://t.co/JqzKy8Bysr
— Anthony Fiato (@LAmobslugger) October 22, 2022

The subject of Smith's training camp hold-in did eventually come up.

"It's been a nice run, for sure, you know, see this year on a one-year deal," Smith told Eisen. "So I'm basically (taking) every game like I would any other year, playing it like my last and don't really know what the future holds, but I do know (I'm) controlling what I can control at the moment and that's about being the best guy that I can in the locker room and then being the best guy on the field week-in and week-out."

Smith was given the opportunity to express his thoughts on the current Bears regime and was complimentary of Matt Eberflus, but didn't mention GM Ryan Poles.

The contract standoff has a future stamp on it with Smith realizing he might eventually go elsewhere.

"It was just a disagreement with contracts," Smith said. "They believed I was at a certain number and I see myself at a different number and we could not agree, and I said I would bet on myself this year and eventually get what I think I deserve for myself. And that's my mindset.

"It won't be like a negative guy in the locker room or anything like that, just controlling what I can control, still the leader of the team and of the guys. I'm just going to approach it just like I would any other year but just knowing that this very well could be my last year."

Although Smith is a free agent after this year, the Bears could retain him on a franchise tag by paying him an average of the top five linebackers in the league or on a transition tag with the pay of the top 10 free agents.

Overthecap.com projects franchise tag pay for linebackers will be $17,438,000 for next season and transition pay at $14,924,000.

Smith's cap hit for this year, his fifth season, is $9,375,000.

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