The Chicago Bears were very active this offseason. General manager Ryan Poles had his work cut out for him as the roster had plenty of holes on it; which is expected when your team wraps up a 3-14 season and finishes the campaign on a 10-game losing streak.
Poles was aggressive when it came to addressing the team’s needs defensively. The Bears were steamrolled by opponents on the ground last season as the Houston Texans were the only defense to allow more rushing yards per game.
To shore things up in that regard, the Bears doubled down at the linebacker position. Tremaine Edmunds was given a record-setting contract to leave the Buffalo Bills on the heels of Chicago bringing in T.J. Edwards from the Philadelphia Eagles as well.
While both players will help improve the Bears defense, it has left some people wondering; what did they move on from Roquan Smith for then in the first place? Smith was traded to the Baltimore Ravens ahead of the deadline in exchange for A.J. Klein, a second- and a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Smith went on to showcase why he was such a highly regarded player, signing a record-setting deal of his own. Trading him away is something that coaches around the league have since ripped the Bears apart for.
“I can’t believe (the Bears) let him out of their building. He’s a stud,” according to an unnamed coordinator in the league. Another coordinator called him “everything a linebacker is supposed to be,” per Russell S. Baxter of FanSided.
The two people quoted are likely far from the only ones who cannot understand why the Bears would make such a trade. Chicago doubled down on bad trades, sending their own second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for wide receiver Chase Claypool, who is in danger of getting cut this offseason.
While the Bears did address their linebacker need in free agency, it was a self-inflicted wound from trading Smith in the first place. Edmunds and Edwards are both very good players but Smith has been arguably the most consistent linebacker in the NFL since being selected No. 8 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
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