Roquan Smith trade grades: Who won the deal between the Bears and Ravens?
The Bears and Ravens are similar in some respects. They have two of football’s most athletically gifted quarterbacks — Justin Fields and Lamar Jackson — and their offenses are built around their signal callers’ talents accordingly. The two franchises just pulled off a massive deal roughly 24 hours before the end of the 2022 NFL trade deadline.
Baltimore made the plunge for some defensive help and has acquired All-Pro level linebacker Roquan Smith. All the Ravens had to do to get Smith’s services was to give the Bears a 2023 second-rounder, a 2023 fifth-rounder, and linebacker A.J. Klein. The Bears trading Smith wasn’t necessarily a surprise, given his testy contract situation from the offseason. The Ravens being the other team at the end of that move is … kind of shocking?
From one of the most blatant tank jobs in modern pro football being orchestrated to a tee in Chicago to the Ravens trying to fight the AFC elite with more defense (I mean, I get it), let’s break down all the ins and outs of this agreement between the Bears and Ravens.