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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Robert Zeglinski

Roquan Smith explained Ravens trade kept his career from ‘going down the drain’ with the Bears

Roquan Smith Bears Ravens Chicago (Organization) Jaylon Johnson

The Chicago Bears are so awful right now that some of their active players — like star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, for example — are seemingly upset they don’t have a life raft to leave the navy blue and orange sinking ship. Fortunately for All-Pro-caliber linebacker Roquan Smith, the Bears traded him to the Baltimore Ravens for a second-round draft pick last fall.

As he leads a dominant Ravens defense to Super Bowl contention, Smith is now reflecting on a deal that changed the trajectory of his career. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Smith initially thought that leaving Chicago for greener pastures was “bittersweet.” But the superstar defender changed his tune when he saw how inept the Bears have been while he features for a bona fide championship contender. Note: they finished with the league’s worst record in 2022 and are tied for the third-worst record in 2023. (Never mind that Chicago saw just one winning campaign during Smith’s tenure from 2018 to mid-2022.)

Smith sounds so grateful to have maximized his brilliant talents with a marquee organization that knows what it’s doing. I’m so sorry, Bears fans.

More from Sports Illustrated:

“And when I just think about it from the perspective of having the opportunity to compete for one year in and year out with the talent we have. Man, it makes me so happy, just knowing my career is not going down the drain, in the sense of playing somewhere where I’m not truly competing for a title.”

Woof. I know Smith doesn’t mean that sentiment maliciously. But it is brutal to hear someone essentially equating playing with the Bears to wasting their time. I mean, Smith isn’t wrong, obviously. The Ravens and Bears are worlds apart. But still. What a brutally inadvertent roast of the NFL’s worst “marquee” organization.

This was how Twitter reacted to Smith's "going down the drain" comments

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