Roquan Smith traded to Ravens! (Emergency Pod)

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Speaker 1: Tom Pellicero and Ian Rapped four here in the NFL Network newsroom with some breaking news in the over twenty four hours before the NFL's trade deadline, and one of the biggest names on the trading block now has a new home. We'll take it from here. Rap sheet nice try around the NFL has got this one covered. Dan hands us here with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler. Yes, Roquan Smith no longer a member of the Chicago Bears sent to the Baltimore Ravens. H This is a rap sheet report and exchange, an exchange for a two thousand, twenty three second and fifth round picks and linebacker A. J. Klein. Her source informed of the deal. And yes, this is a around the NFL special trade deadline mini pod here just to break down what just went down. And I'll start with you, Greggy. Roquan Smith, big time player, a big difference maker, and the Ravens are a team that sees a window here that's open and they get aggressive. Yeah. The first thing I thought is, Okay, the Ravens want to win the Super Bowl this year, and it's interesting how they value linebacker maybe more than most teams that that the history that they've had there, and they thought Patrick Queen was going to be the next guy to fulfill that legacy that Ray Lewis started really and it just hasn't worked out that way. He's been up and down, and I was curious he they kind of go, how's Patrick Queen goes? And I was curious because I don't really it's hard to evaluate off ball linebackers. I was like, I wonder how he graded in that last Bucks game, because he had a couple of great games, seemed like he was making a lot of big plays. And I went and looked and he got a big, fat f in that game. So it sort of made sense that they've made this trade to me, But I immediately wondered, and I don't know what you think, Mark, Like, is this a long term move you give up a second and a fifth round pick that's eight years of two young players in a second round picks pretty high? Or is it just something where they're trying to get better this year at a position where they feel like they're thin. I think it would be a little bit of both, because the Ravens have always been aggressive in these trade deadline situations. But there's no way that I think a team of today now, I mean another team that loves linebackers is the are the Bears, Dick but Kiss, Uh, Wilbur Marshall, Brian Lacker at this staff they didn't want to pay. They didn't. But I would just say historically as a as an organization, but I don't imagine any team today could say, if we go get a star linebacker, that's the thing that lifts us above the rest of the a f C. So I have to view it as both a it's this year, it's a team that could win the Super Bowl, could go to the super Bowl, but also they have to view them as someone that's part of their long term plans at a position they value. Where you've got Patrick Queen, you've got Josh Bindes, but you could certainly insert Roquan Smith and make it a absolutely centerpiece of your defense. And the background with ro Quan Smith, a former first round pick UH in two thousand eighteen, all the next gen stats UH on our end of things with the NFL, he jumps out, including three thirty defensive stops, which is first in the NFL. UH six point four percent sack rate that's first in the NFL. Minimum two d pass rushes five point nine yards per target. That's fourth UH in the NFL minimum two hundred UH targets. So he's obviously a big time player. He was unhappy in Chicago. UH. If you listen to the show in the summer, you're aware that he had requested a trade in August. He held in during training camp. He was frustrated at the lack of an acceptable long term contract offer from the Bears. And you know, a trade in the off season seems very possible, but trading him in season, especially if you're happy with the assets that the other team is giving up and a second round pick, and we know second round picks are extremely valuable UH in the NFL because of not just the quality of the player you can get, but team control and the cost effectiveness compared to a first round pick. So this year, he stayed healthy through eight games. He's twenty five. He leads the NFL with eight three tackles. So he's a He's a big time edition um for Baltimore. On the Chicago side of thing, You're right, Greg, like, if if this management, if the front office of the Bears saw him as a true building block, he's exactly somebody that you would keep around. I feel like that's what they said back in the summer when they were turning down, uh the trade request, saying no, he's a building block. Apparently not um. But I'm bummed if I'm a Bears fan, because in a week you go from beating Belichick in New England and a romp to trading your two best defensive players and Robert Quinn and Rocan Smith. But this is also very much a team in transition, starting from the ground up and starting to feel good about their young quarterback in justin fields, but also being aware they need to reboot the whole machine. Right. It's like it's a tough position and to put your head coach Matt ebral Lusson, I'm sure he is on board with this move by by Ryan Poles, but it really shows that Polls is trying to rebuild as much as any team in the NFL. You mentioned, I mean that Quinn wasn't playing as well this year and he's thirty four. Like that, that totally made sense. Bro Quan Smith is a young player that you would normally build around, is maybe your best player. He was the second team All Pro in each of the last two years, and you're right, Like some people believe he's one of the best in the league, and the Ravens really do. He's a guy that, like PF grades, never liked and I and I always feel like it's hard to evaluate these off ball linebackers and what they do in coverage because you don't know the responsibilities. But the Ravens, who as an as analytically minded as anyone, give up this many assets, I tend to think that they will want to resign him. And I think this trade was a little closer to Old Mark's friends Sassy's trade of brock Osweiler uh back in the day than we realized, because the Bears basically bought a draft pick they sided in both this case and Robert Quinn's, and we didn't learn this until after the fact to pay much of his salary before sending him like accelerate the money, and that they basically are kind of paying that money because the Ravens don't have a lot of cap space, and the Ravens are sending them these picks and they're kind of paying for draft picks, and so they now have a first two seconds, a third two force in two fifths Uh, and they have eighty five million dollars in dead money. That's the other benefit of doing that is like you put all the money on this year. I mean that's practically in half of the entire team salary, eighty five million dollars in dead money this year, and then you clear it up for next year. And uh, I guess that's a smart thing to do. It just sucks when you have like nine games left and you're trying to go out and win. But it is what Ryan Poles talked about the Bears doing all along, so he's sticking to what the current philosophy is, and I agree, you don't. The problem is like you have to go find the next broke On Smith and you already had them, so you're you're moving them. And that's the thing I think that a lot of these rebuilding teams say they're going to do and then it never happens. But you mentioned all the draft picks. They have effectively a hundred and twenty million dollars in cap space next season, which is almost twice as much as the next team, the Falcons. So it's like this is a team that when they talk about rebuilding, you've got the assets and the money to do it. The question is can you do it? Because you're giving away good players now you can go find them. We've seen this on our podcast fifteen times. It's worked probably three times. And the Ravens our team that we talked about it on the Flagship Show on Sunday. We're looking for great teams and they're coming off a nice win, and now you add Roquan Smith, they're going for it. I think it's pretty clear to me and probably pretty much everybody else that, uh it's the Bills at the top of this conference, and then the Chiefs. But you know, Baltimore, I think if they could put some things together here and build up some momentum, I think they're right there. So I love the move for the Ravens. I like any time a front office is aggressive when they feel like they have it again. Lamar Jackson, I know he's not going anywhere most more than likely, but this is a finite window. You have this core in place and a young quarterback in Lamar that could take you to the promised Land. Build around him as much as you can and see if the dice fall your way come January and February. So I love that trade on and on the bare side. One last point. As great as ro Kuan Smith is and we just said that he leads the NFL and tackles, Chicago still has the second worst run defense in the league. And it's just kind of reminder of how much work they have to do. So if if Ryan Poles is a guy that you believe in, UH trust the process, like a Jets fans trusting Joe Douglas to build up a roster, which he has, maybe they could do the same thing in Chicago. UH trades that make sense. I like them. I I did too, and I I find it fascinating when like a smart team like this like the Raven does something unorthodox and then because I tend to think, you're not gonna give up those picks unless you are ready to sign him long term or a that that's a good chance. Kind of like when the Rams traded for von Miller, I think they expected to sign von Miller. They tried to sign von Miller, they offered him twenty plus million dollars a year. I think they see ro Kuan Smith as a fixture in their future. And I looked and they actually have forty eight million dollars in cap space and they're like fifth or sixth in cap space next year, so they can take a look at them in their system for seven or eight games. If it works out, he gets that money, I believe from then. I I don't think it stops them from signing Lamar Jackson. And if for some reason it doesn't work out there, like the compensatory pick Ninja's they always lead the NFL and compensatory picks, and they'll probably figure out a way to not sign too many guys so that they get her third or fourth back for him. So they're trying to have their cake and they eat it too. But I tend to think they want ro Quan Smith to be the next Ray Lewis and be one of those guys that they pick up mid career like Jason Peters, remember he used to be. I mean, uh Ja Peters is wrong example, the Eagles did that, but they've picked up a couple of guys in the middle of their career that end up sticking there for a long time. Yeah, and that's now. And let me know if I missed one, but three Pro Bowl players that have been moved now in the past week and a half Christian McCaffrey from the Panthers to the Niners, and you saw what he has already done with San Francisco. Robert Quinn was moved to the Eagles, turning from the Bears, turning that strength into an even greater strength in Philadelphia. And now ro Kuan Smith to the Ravens. So the contenders are are are loading up? Uh and who's the next to go? Mark? Let me know who it is. Who's the next player to go before the Tuesday, November one deadline. I think Zach Wilson will be traded to the Texans. I don't know. I'm like that. I don't like a bizarre He's starting the rest of the year. We'll hit that on. I wonder if the Ravens ladder receiver too, Yeah, I mean I think maybe they could. I think it's possible. So I'm not gonna rash. Bateman is out weeks. I say brand and Cooks I would if I really had, if I had a gambled, say, Brandon Cooks would be on the move. You're not allowed to gamble. That's that's part of the set you up, and then you you gotta hit it. And on poor Zack Wilson, who's struggling right now. Well, you know I had to the jets. We didn't have two jets mentioned in this podcast in this twelve minute podcast if we could so well, but there's a cat, there's a cat out and Mark, yeah, are you turning into like the cat? Like? There's cat? Ladies? Are you gonna are you turning into like a cat man watching someone's cat for three days? Is this how the story ends? Market a house with cats? You know you cats need better pr Cats are amazing cats. Cats are a lot outside of a home and then the shadows if possible out in the wild versus inside that they're not a trustworthy animal like I mean my cats were. We're led out throughout my childhood. But they would come back with like dead mice and leave him at the door as a as a little present for us, No as a warning to you that they'll come get you if they get the chance. Get a dog. We had both team both Team both? Um all right? Well, team both alright? Well said, uh that is it for uh an emergency uh edition of the Around the NFL podcast. If another trade goes down, it will be Mark Sessler handling in solo. Um from his cat domicile. Uh so, we appreciate that an advanced mark, and thank you everybody for listening. We have more content coming tonight, the Monday Night Football Recap with Greg Rosenthal and very special guest. Did we announce the special guest? I don't want to announce it, but you can if they made its Cincinnati's Shining Sun on the West Side. Um, So make sure you're tuned in for that. And then we'll be all back together again tomorrow Tuesday on the Around the NFL podcast. And I think actually, if another trade goes down between now and then, we'll probably wait until Tuesday, unless Zach Wilson has traded to the Houston Texas. In that case, we would have to come on the air. But that's it. Rude, rude, Mark, the man's struggling. Apologies. Dan Hands is signing off four Quiet Storm, the Old Boss and the Grave Diggers. Somewhere in cyberspace see them ro