LAKE FOREST – In the end, Ryan Poles never budged, and Roquan Smith backed down.
Poles, a first-time general manager, faced his first real test at the helm of the Bears and came out a clear winner Saturday when Smith agreed to end his hold-in and play out the remainder of his contract.
The 25-year-old was seeking a contract that would have made him the highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the NFL. A number Poles was unwilling to meet.
“I see myself at a number, and they see me at a number,” Smith said Saturday after his first practice of training camp. “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.
“My number and their number was not the same, and that’s pretty much all I can say on that.”
Poles said he believes the Bears’ extension offer showed respect to what Smith has done on the field and that there were “record-breaking” parts of the deal. There reportedly also were de-escalators in the contract, which Smith confirmed Saturday during his media availability.
When Smith publicly requested a trade on Aug. 9, it appeared the Bears had two options: pay him or trade him. There was a third road, flexing their leverage muscles and forcing Smith to either accept their offer or play out the final year of his contract.
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That’s a road I admittedly didn’t think was realistic. It rarely happens in the NFL. Usually, when a star player asks for a trade amid failing extension negotiations, especially as publicly as Smith did, the team either trades him (i.e., A.J. Brown) or rebuilds the relationship and gets the extension done (Deebo Samuel).
Poles faced extreme pressure to lock Smith up or cut bait and add to the Bears’ draft capital by trading him. The longer it went, the more he risked it becoming a sideshow that could poison the culture Eberflus was trying to build.
But Poles did neither. He didn’t kowtow to public pressure.
He has a vision for this Bears rebuild and has a firm number for Smith’s place in that vision. Poles has said how much he loves Smith and respects his elite talent. But Poles also was clear that his job is to do what’s best for the Bears, not just for Smith.
What’s best for the Bears’ long-term rebuild might be playing out because Poles won the standoff.
The Bears now get to see how Smith fits into head coach Matt Eberflus’ defense before wheeling over bags of cash to Smith. The WILL linebacker is a critical position in Eberflus’ scheme, but Smith doesn’t fit the typical mold of an Eberflus linebacker. Does he have the talent to thrive in this role? Absolutely. Is it best if the Bears see how it looks before committing record-breaking money to him? Also, yes.
Successful rebuilds happen by stacking good decision on top of good decision. The right draft pick here, a great contract there, and the ship starts to turn around.
Poles inherited the worst roster situation in the NFL but has the Bears poised to enter next offseason with somewhere around $100 million in cap space. There’s an opportunity cost for every decision. Paying Smith $20 million or more per season would have cut into Poles’ war chest. Doing that for a non-premium position before seeing his fit in your defense would have been an unnecessary gamble.
Now, Poles gets to see Smith play in Eberflus’ defense and can franchise tag him for the next two seasons if he chooses.
The Bears always had all the leverage in the situation. The only question was whether or not a first-time GM would flex those muscles on his star player in his first contract negotiation.
He did and left a high-profile standoff a clear winner. The Bears should be better for it.