When Chicago Bears common supervisor Ryan Poles sat down for the compulsory stage-setting information convention of coaching camp Tuesday morning, he nonetheless hadn’t crossed paths with standout linebacker Roquan Smith. Poles had been advised Smith checked into camp. But past that?
Well, let’s simply say no matter Poles knew about Smith’s contract dissatisfaction or plans to deal with it differed from what the GM was keen to speak about publicly. On a dais inside Halas Hall and in entrance of cameras livestreaming the back-and-forth with reporters by way of the Bears’ personal channels, Poles selected an evasive route. He talked about Smith in his opening assertion, however briefly and solely to say that he liked the linebacker as a participant and an individual however wasn’t going to speak about Smith’s contract standing.
During an ensuing barrage of questions, Poles nonetheless couldn’t — or wouldn’t — provide a lot.
Had Smith communicated straight with anybody within the group about how he deliberate to strategy coaching camp after a Monday report from NFL Network indicated he may not take part in practices as a result of contract frustrations?
“I’m not going to get into that situation at this time,” Poles mentioned.
Was Poles hopeful Smith would be a part of his teammates on the sphere for the Bears’ first observe Wednesday morning?
“Yeah,” he mentioned. “That’s our expectation of everybody — to show up and get better and put the time in.”
But what if Smith defies that and begins camp as a hold-in by boycotting practices?
“I don’t know what his intentions are,” Poles mentioned. “I know he has checked in (to camp). And we’re going to take it from there and gather information and take this one step at a time. That’s all I can do.”
In the meantime, an anxious Bears fan base waits and appears for clues with none remark thus far from Smith, who was not made accessible to reporters Tuesday.
Smith is coming into the fifth and closing 12 months of his rookie contract and can make $9.325 million in base wage this season. Still, as a two-time, All-Pro linebacker who continues to ascend, Smith needs an extension past 2022 earlier than the common season arrives and would like to be paid as one of many league’s greatest defenders.
Some NFL insiders have made an informed guess that Smith could also be aiming to money in with a brand new deal within the ballpark of $100 million over 5 years. But who is aware of what precisely Smith is in search of. Or how a lot Poles, a first-time GM refurbishing a Bears roster filled with holes, will likely be keen to speculate.
“I’m not going to get into the contract piece,” Poles mentioned. “But like I’ve said about him, nothing has changed from my end in terms of how I feel about the player and what he can bring to this team.”
As of this spring, Smith was with out agent illustration. Asked Tuesday if that was nonetheless the case, Poles couldn’t discover a direct reply. “Ummm … You’ll have to … Yeah. I’m not going to talk about that,” he mentioned.
But wouldn’t that be a complicating think about an already tangled state of affairs if Smith was nonetheless with out a level particular person to deal with contract talks?
“If a player didn’t have an agent, it would be a different situation than if they did,” Poles mentioned.
The vagueness was notable.
The subsequent step, in fact, is to listen to from the 25-year-old linebacker and get a clearer indication of what’s going on and the way he hopes the state of affairs will resolve itself.
Only 4 gamers spoke Tuesday — quarterback Justin Fields, middle Lucas Patrick, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and defensive lineman Justin Jones. Johnson, a teammate of Smith’s the final two seasons, was requested if he’d spoken to Smith.
“Just said, ‘What’s up?’” Johnson mentioned. “I mind my own business, big dog.”
Asked what the Bears protection could be lacking with out Smith training, Johnson straightened up and smiled.
“(Expletive), our leader,” he mentioned. “I mean you all know who Roquan is and what he means to the team. But at the end of the day, somebody has to fill that gap.”
Bears coach Matt Eberflus, in the meantime, once more heaped reward on Smith’s ability set and management traits but in addition indicated he would make needed changes if Smith selected to not observe for the foreseeable future.
“I’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he mentioned.
The Bears might have an analogous difficulty brewing with defensive finish Robert Quinn, whose 18½ sacks final season set a franchise report. Quinn was absent from necessary minicamp final month and fined accordingly. There’s buzz inside league circles he would like to be traded somewhat than spend his twelfth NFL season as a part of a serious rebuilding effort. But like Smith, Quinn reported to camp on time Tuesday. And like Smith, he hasn’t expressed any of his wishes publicly.
Poles hasn’t had any direct indication Quinn is lobbying to be dealt.
“I haven’t had that conversation with him,” Poles mentioned. “I would hope that he wants to be here.”
The Bears will hit the observe discipline at 10 a.m. Wednesday and have 4 practices this week earlier than their first necessary time off on Sunday.
So a lot is fluid with a workforce that has been overhauled since January. But the statuses of Smith and Quinn will stay front-burner points and challenges for Poles to sort out nonetheless he sees match.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com