Bears get 53rd overall pick from Roquan Smith trade to Ravens

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The Baltimore Ravens lost their Wild Card round game against the Cincinnati Bengals and are eliminated. And now that the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also been eliminated, the Raven's position in the NFL Draft order is cemented.

That means the Bears finally know what that second round pick they received in the Roquan Smith trade is.

And it's the 53rd overall pick.

The Bears' second-round pick was slated to be the 32nd overall pick, typically the final pick of the first-round. The Miami Dolphins forfeited one of their two first-round picks (plus a third-round pick in 2024) for tampering surrounding Tom Brady, moving that first pick of the second round into the 32nd overall slot.

However, the Bears traded that pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for wide receiver Chase Claypool. Fans and some pundits are questioning that trade in hindsight after Claypool's negligible impact on the Bears' offense this past season. Claypool caught just 14 passes for 140 yards and zero touchdowns over the course of seven games.

General manager Ryan Poles has stood by that trade, however.

"That's the difference between trades in baseball and basketball, it's like plug and play," Poles said after the season. "There's an entire offseason and half of a season of installs and all the things you need to do collectively to play and execute offensive play. On top of that, it was a little bit choppy with Justin getting dinged up, [Chase] got dinged up. So it was a little bit choppy of a start. I told Chase, and we had a really good conversation, I'm not blinking at that one at all. I think he's gonna help us moving forward, and I'm excited about it."

On Roquan Smith's end, he agreed to terms with the Ravens for a five-year, $100 million deal with $60 million in total guaranteed money. The deal makes him the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL.

Smith has played tremendously for the Ravens since joining Baltimore at the beginning of November. 

The once-Bears linebacker earned his first Pro Bowl nod this season along with his first, first-team All-Pro nod. Smith helped the Ravens keep opponents under 15 points per game in the back half of their season – the second-best mark in the NFL. 

He's added two sacks, one interception and 86 combined tackles since joining the Ravens. 

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