Disgruntled Bears linebacker Roquan Smith made it known Tuesday he wants out of Chicago.
Whether the Bears fulfill Smith’s trade request remains to be seen, but if they do, where could the 25-year-old defensive stalwart end up?
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer floated out three potential destinations for Smith in his mailbag column on Wednesday. Breer could see the Denver Broncos making a push to trade for Smith with the organization in win-now mode after acquiring quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason.
“The Broncos make some sense,” Breer wrote, “because they’re all in with the group they’ve built over the last couple of years, and Smith would give the team a heart-and-soul player on defense to match with Russell Wilson on offense.”
Breer also passed on some major praise for Smith, believing he could become a Bobby Wagner-type with the Broncos.
Breer sees another possible trade partner in the Los Angeles Chargers, who like the Broncos, have made major moves in the offseason to try to win a Super Bowl. Adding Smith would be another seismic addition by the Chargers, but Breer points out they might be willing to orchestrate a trade out of necessity given the unknown health status of linebacker Kenneth Murray. Murray began training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
The final team Breer didn’t rule out landing Smith was the Dallas Cowboys, but he knows the odds of that happening are slim.
“I like the idea of the Cowboys doing something here, too, because it’d free up the coaches to get even more creative with Micah Parsons, but I’m not sure that’s realistic,” Breer wrote.
Wherever Smith winds up, or if he stays in Chicago with the new contract that he wants in hand, he will bring with him an elite level of production. The linebacker, who is entering his fifth season in the NFL, has totaled over 100 tackles each year he has been in the league, including an eye-popping 153 takedowns last year to go along with three sacks and one interception.
