Roquan Smith of the Ravens is happy with his trade from the Bears: “My career is not going down the drain.”
A little more than a year ago, Roquan Smith’s wish came true. After being moved by the Chicago Bears to the Baltimore Ravens on Halloween 2022, the linebacker’s chances of achieving his ultimate dream of winning a championship were immediately improved.
The Ravens fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card round, but they bounced back, became healthier, and are now tied for the second-best record in the NFL at 7-2.
Smith requested a trade, walked it back, and began the season with the Bears after attempting to work out a new contract in Chicago. The Baltimore Ravens signed him to a five-year, $100 million ($45 million guaranteed) contract, giving him the deal he had been seeking.
For Smith, a lot has happened in the past year. He’s got a shot for a championship and financial stability today. He informed Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated that it might be worse. He might be in Chicago even now.
And when I simply consider it from the standpoint of having the chance to compete year-round with the quality we possess. The knowledge that my career is still continuing strong and that I will still be able to play somewhere where I am not genuinely fighting for a title makes me very happy.
These are the two teams’ post-trade records: Chicago is 2-16, including nine straight losses to close out the 2022 NFL season following Smith’s trade, while Baltimore is 12-6. After six seasons, the Ravens are on their way to making their fifth postseason berth. The Bears could miss for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
With an NFL-best 13.8 points allowed per game and an average of 262.6 yards allowed per game, Smith is currently a member of the second-ranked defence in the league. His influence has persisted in Baltimore, where as of Week 10, he is fourth in total tackles (87).
In his one year in Baltimore, Smith has found a connection with the team’s defense-heavy past.
“Being a Raven means the world to me, honestly, man,” Smith exclaims. “And how they came to get me when I was in Chicago, and all the love they’ve shown me here, I can only think it will only intensify from there.” When I consider it that way, I take great satisfaction in playing every play to the whistle and giving it my all. But something about being here, with all the giants that have come before me, like Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, and Bart Scott, just makes you want to push even harder.
“Giving it that perspective, dude, it fills me with pride to know that I’m performing in front of such a great legacy. And, dude, that was a long time before [me]. How they established what it meant to be a Raven. It’s, in my opinion, a case of the defence playing at full tilt and denying the offence any breathing room. putting them under. You immediately put them back down after they raise themselves to breathe. That seems to be the core of what it means to be a Raven.
In Baltimore, Smith has a shot to win, something he believed was possible in Chicago. In his first season in 2018, the Bears finished 12-4, and throughout his four full seasons there, they made two trips to the postseason. Though the Ravens come into every season refreshed and ready to win, things haven’t always gone that way in his former residence.Although they added Montgomery Sweat to the defence and will have two first-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draught, Justin Fields is still a developing quarterback.
Clever management can create a long-lasting competitor. Smith is now closer to a title than he has ever been because he didn’t think that would happen in Chicago anytime soon.
