Chicago Bears Are Facing Same Agents From the Bosa Holdout

Is it annoying that the Chicago Bears still haven’t signed 1st round pick Roquan Smith? Sure. Everybody would like to see him on the field by now.

Yet the reaction to his continued absence from training camp seems a little over the top in some instances. While the addition of his talents to the defense will be significant, the bottom line is they aren’t essential. Smith wasn’t drafted to a position of great need. The Bears posted a top 10 defense last season with Danny Trevathan, Christian Jones, and Nick Kwiatkoski serving as the primary starters during the season.

Even with Jones gone, Trevathan and Kwiatkoski should serve as a capable combination in the worst-case scenario of a Smith holdout. It’s for that reason alone that people shouldn’t be getting all up in arms. The #8 overall pick doesn’t have a ton of leverage. The Bears aren’t in a desperate situation at the position and no amount of holdout length will increase his dollar amounts too much due to the rookie wage scale.

This means Smith has two choices. Get the best language he can in the deal and sign it. Or hold out for all of 2018 and try to re-enter the 2019 NFL draft. At that point, he’ll almost certainly be drafted later than he was this year and earn considerably less money.

CAA Sports, agent to Smith, is notorious for protracted talks

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It can’t be a coincidence that Smith’s situation is taking so long. He’s represented by the Creative Artists Agency. This group is one of the biggest in the United States and also one of the most combative when it comes to contract talks. They were the ones behind the infamous Joey Bosa holdout back in 2016 when he missed both training camp and the preseason for the Los Angeles Chargers before finally signing his deal.

It also should be noted they represent Aaron Donald and Julio Jones, two players are in the midst of camp holdouts of their own. So this is obviously not an isolated incident. CAA isn’t afraid to play hardball in contract talks, rookie or otherwise. Combined with Ryan Pace, a man who’s notorious in his own right for being methodical in his negotiations, it’s little wonder Smith hasn’t made it to Bourbannais yet.

The good news is it’s a long process to come. The Bears have five preseason games this year thanks to the Hall of Fame game. This means even if the holdout lingers another week, the odds favor Smith still being able to get considerable playing time in the new defense to prepare for the regular season. It comes down to how far he’s willing to let his agents push it.