Roquan Smith contract talks are over | He will play under his current contract

Roquan Smith contract talks with the Chicago Bears are over. The Bears young linebacker is going to bet on himself. According to reports, Roquan Smith returned to practice on Saturday and has agreed to play out his contract before hitting free agency in March.

Smith is guaranteed 9.7 million dollars this year on his fifth-year option, but he wanted to sign a long term deal. Smith recently asked for a trade, but that was denied.

“I thought (the process) was very distasteful to say the least,” Smith said Saturday, via video from the team. “It wasn’t what I anticipated, nor what I expected from the situation. . . . Now I’m just shifting my focus to the season and be the best teammate I can be to those guys in the locker room. It’s the last year of my deal. I’m going to take it and run with it and bet on myself. Negotiations are over right now.”

“I see myself at a number, and they see me at a number,” Smith said. “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. . . . It wasn’t a number that I needed, nor that I wanted.”

Smith does not have an agent, and that is a problem. Roquan Smith contract situation turned ugly when someone close to Smith began reaching out to teams on his behalf, but he/she was not a certified NFLPA agent. So the NFL stopped that quickly saying if any team talks to Roquan Smith’s agent then it would be considered tampering.

Smith, a Georgia native, has been a very productive player since entering the league as the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-1 linebacker has recorded 100-plus total tackles in each of his first four seasons, earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2020 and ’21.

We will see what happens, but Smith is not happy. Hopefully, he shines this year so he can get a contract, but I hope he at least hires an agent soon.