Roquan Smith Practicing

The Bears liinebacker ended his hold-in and practiced Saturday for the first time as the Bears began preparation for their last preseason game Aug. 27 with Cleveland.

Roquan Smith is back practicing and he's anything but happy.

The Bears weakside linebacker ended his hold-in and plans to play out the remainder of his contract this year, then see whether the team wants him back with a new contract in 2023 or places a franchise tag on him.

"I'll get there when I get there," Smith said about an extension. "I think the franchise tag should be a nice number next year, whatever it is."

It would likely be in the neighborhood of $18 to $19 million for a year but Smith wants more. He said he wants to be the highest-paid linebacker.

"It's my last year of my deal, and hey, I'm just going to take it, run with it, bet on myself, like I've always done, and the negotiations are over right now," Smith said.

Smith said he wanted to be the highest paid linebacker in the game and have a contract for five or six years. The dispute with the team was all about cash.

"My number? My number and their number was not the same, and that's pretty much all I can say on that," Smith said, although he continued. "I see myself at a number, and they see me at a number. And we couldn’t agree. We can agree to disagree.

"But hey, I would never accept a bad deal, like I pretty much said. I would never accept a deal that I don't feel like is worth what I'm worth."

Smith wouldn't reveal the figures, but did mention a few aspects that irritated him as he was trying to negotiate his own deal without an agent.

"I think for anyone in any deal, the most important things are guaranteed money," Smith said.

Through NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Smith had issued a letter demanding a trade two weeks ago and at the time it was revealed the Bears wanted de-escalators in the deal or reasons why the money could be reduced.

"And I don't know many people with de-escalators in their deals," Smith said. "I think you could maybe look that up. Contracts are public, right?

"Maybe you can look that up and tell me how many people you see that have de-escalators in their contracts that are making a certain number a year."

It is a rarity.

Smith said the Bears did not fine him, even though the CBA allows them to fine him $40,000 per missed practices and $572,000 for missed preseason games.

He has not been missing practices, as the term hold-in suggests, and has watched from the sidelines. He attended meetings, as well, and felt it was time to return.

"Well, obviously the talks didn’t get too far," Smith said. "And it didn't end in the way that I wanted them to end. And it’s basically like, hey, I know at the end of the year, it's going to be a big season for myself.

"And also at the end of the season, there's a lot of different directions things could go, so I know I need to put myself and my body in the best possible situation to succeed and I feel like with this time that I have it'll be enough time for me to prepare myself for the season."

Smith went through one of the more open and honest press conferences a player has had at Halas Hall while discussing his situation. He probably didn't win, but it's more a case of "...to be continued."

"My full intention is to play this season and whatever happens, happens," he said. "Whatever it is I have to go through this season, I’ll do it chin up, chest out, sun sets, no regrets, baby."

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