No Pay No Play

Things have gotten a bit more interesting on the Roquan Smith side of things. Matt Eberflus has stated that although Smith will travel with the team for this Thursday's matchup against the Seahawks that he will not play.

Eberflus has also stated that Roquan is still engaged with the team although he is still publicly requesting to be traded due to failures in talks about his contract extension.

"The new front office regime doesn't value me here," Smith wrote in a statement sent to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. "They've refused to negotiate in good faith, every step of this journey has been 'take it or leave it'. The deal sent to me is one that would be bad for myself and for the entire LB market if I signed it. I've been trying to get something done that's fair since April, but their focus has been on trying to take advantage of me.

"I wanted to be a Bear for my entire career, help this team bring a [Super Bowl] back to our city. However, they have left me no choice but to request a trade that allows me to play for an organization that truly values what I bring to the table."


Ryan Poles however has stated that Smith will not be traded and Smith has been in practice. Although we could fine him for holding out, it seems the Bears are currently attempting diplomacy over dictatorship, and are trying to patch things up behind the scenes.

Do you think we can afford to lose him, or where does the line get drawn before we are forcing him to stay somewhere he has no desire to be? We also need to consider how he would play on the field if he is stuck here against his will.