If he's this much trouble up front there's more to come later on. From PFT: Bears linebacker Roquan Smith is one of the seven unsigned top-10 draft picks. With his team among the first to report for training camp, Smith becomes the first 2018 rookie to not show up. So what’s the issue? The renewed wrestling match over offset language, as one league source explained it to PFT, is more of a problem at the very top of round one. At the bottom of the top 10 (Smith was No. 8), the impasse comes more from issues like the language that voids future guaranteed money and the structure of roster bonuses paid in future years. Regardless, the Bears officially head to training camp on Thursday, and Smith won’t be there — unless he blinks, the team blinks, or the two sides fashion a compromise on whatever the issues are that are keeping a deal from getting done.
Without knowing the specifics of what the Bears offered him and I wouldn't make an assumption that he's the trouble.
Rookie hold outs used to be very common, though. Almost expected. And they didn't typically mean a player would be trouble. Granted, with the new pay scale rookie hold outs are rare, but again, without knowing the specifics I can't place blame on either side. I mean, we know that Smith, as the 8th player picked, will get X amount of dollars and that amount is pretty much carved in stone. So, and as the article states, it's most likely something to do with future guaranteed money etc. And I'm sure Smith is being told by his agent that he should hold out because the Bears are lowballing him or something similar. If Smith wants to secure his future financially for a few years I can understand that and think it's a smart move. He could get hurt in preseason and never play another down in football.
I agree that missing rookie camp will hamper his development. I'm just saying maybe he's not the problem.
His agent doesn't play and doesn't sign on the dotted line. So he is the problem. If he want's to be there then he would get'er done. As you said in today's slotting it's rare to see a hold out. He's not even a top 5 pick. Sign it, get into camp and make the team.
I think you forget we had the same issue signing our 1st rounders when Aponte and Ireland were still around. Remember Hard Knocks when Tannehill was "holding out"?
The Bears would do well to remember the Joey Bosa situation. The Chargers tried to chisel Bosa on what sounds to be the same type of clauses and they missed on half of Bosa’s stellar rookie year
Like danm says, none of us know the situation, so it's just plain wrong to say "he is the problem". You don't know what position the Bears have taken, or what advice his agent is giving him. It's not as simple as saying 'if he wants to be there, he'd get it done' - if that was the case all teams would low-ball all Rookies whenever they could, knowing that the kids would accept the first offer.
This is a labor issue, I don't know why in the hell it would be reflective of the player. It's a perfectly valid thing for Roquan Smith to want, and may end up being a difference of millions of dollars in his pocket.
I am very happy we have Minkah...I think he's going to be a GREAT DOLPHIN player for a very long time.
Smith is not his own agent, he's just following the advice of his agent. What's he supposed to do? Trust that the team has his best interest in mind.
Would be interesting to see if it is the same old Bears though, as they have historically been tight with contract negotiations
THIS X1000! I'll never understand why fans side with owners over players. Players need to get all the money they can. Cause we all know they're one play away from never walking again, much less playing again......and on a related note, let's stop calling Stephen Ross "Mr. Ross" and other owners as "Mr.___". Why do they get to be called Mister? Cause they're rich!!!?!? Ridiculous.
Did it help the Chargers that they played hardball over contract clauses that virtually all other teams don’t insist on? Also the nature of the contract clauses they fought abd died in a trench over are widely seen as penny pinching of the worst order.
The Dolphins had a much bigger need at LB than at safety. So while I am happy that Fitzpatrick dropped to the Dolphins, I would have been happier if Smith had been available instead. Joey Bosa held out of all of the preseason for the Chargers as a rookie and it certainly didn’t hinder him during his rookie season at all. Also there is no way of knowing if Smith would have the same contract issues with the Dolphins which he is having with the Bears. I think Smith is going to be an impact LB in the NFL for years to come and the Dolphins certainly need more quality LB’s on their roster. We have no idea if McMillian will be a quality LB or not and the rest of the LB’s on the roster are mediocre at best. I think the LB position is going to end up being a major issue for the Dolphins during the 2018 season.
.....hopefully we can sign his son Joey Bosa then.... Hell, let’s draft his brother next year while we are at it.
I guess I made a mistake by writing John instead of Joey. That happens when you get as old as I am. I have corrected my error and thanks for pointing it out.
Roquan Smith just flat out don't fit the defense. You're not going to cover up all the gaps in front of him and let him freely roam like Georgia did. You'd be guessing based on very little that he can fill downhill without getting tangled up, and he's got very little margin of error for rasslin with a guard if he doesn't have those kind of skills.
