Georgia's Roquan Smith Wants Bears Trade; Falcons Star Wants Him in Atlanta
The Atlanta Falcons are looking for any way to improve their squad, and they might be able to do so by adding one of the best linebackers in football.
According to NFL Network, Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith has requested a trade. Smith is unhappy with how his new contract negotiations have transpired with the Bears, who selected him with the 9th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
For a couple of reasons, the Falcons make sense as a potential trade candidate.
Smith is a Georgia native who went to college at the University of Georgia, and a trade to the Falcons would move him closer to home.
Falcons senior executive Ryan Pace was the general manager who drafted Smith while he was in Chicago. Since Pace's move to Atlanta, he's helped sign several of his former players, including Damien Williams, Damiere Byrd, Germain Ifedi, Elijah Wilkinson, Nick Kwiatkoski and Teez Tabor.
On top of that, another former teammate of Smith's isn't shy about wanting to team up with him again.
Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson, who played with Smith for two seasons in Chicago, tweeted his support to bring him to Atlanta ... going as far as changing his profile picture to a photo of Smith in his No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs jersey.
Smith is pricy and he will cost the Falcons a lot of money on his new deal, but he provides another building block alongside A.J. Terrell and Grady Jarrett for the defense.
Opportunities like this don't come every day, and the Falcons should at the bare minimum do their homework on Smith and consider the idea of bringing him home to Georgia.
