The Ravens traded for Chicago Bears inside linebacker Roquan Smith, bolstering one of their thinnest position groups with an All-Pro acquisition just a day before the NFL’s Nov. 1 trade deadline.
According to ESPN, the Ravens will acquire Smith in exchange for linebacker A.J. Klein and second- and fifth-round draft picks in the 2023 draft.
“Roquan is a player that we have long admired both on and off the field,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “He fits our culture seamlessly and plays like a Raven at all times. We are confident that Roquan makes our team stronger.”
Smith, 25, has played every defensive snap this season for the Bears and leads the league with 83 tackles. He also has two interceptions, 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss.
Smith, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Georgia, is making $9.735 million this year after the Bears picked up his fifth-year option. But Smith and the Bears had a falling out this summer regarding a possible extension, and in August, he publicly requested a trade.
According to ESPN, the Bears will be paying the majority of his salary and the Ravens will be on the hook for just the league minimum of $575,000 for the rest of the season. That accounting could have factored in draft-pick compensation and made Smith an affordable target for a team short on inside linebackers and cap space.
The Ravens have roughly $2.5 million in cap space, according to the latest NFLPA figures.
Smith (6-foot-1, 232) earned Second-Team All-Pro honors in 2020 and 2021. Last year, Smith totaled a career-best 163 tackles, and he has 16.5 career sacks. He has also been durable, playing in all but four games during his five-year career.
The Ravens will likely seek to work out a long-term extension with Smith, but in the short term, he gives the team an established star at a position that has been perilously thin. Patrick Queen has played well in the past month, but Josh Bynes, 33, who was brought back on a one-year contract for his 12th NFL season, is dealing with a quad injury.
Inside linebackers Kristian Welch and Del’Shawn Phillips have been almost exclusively special teams players, and Malik Harrison has been used more as an outside linebacker this year.
The Ravens play just once between now and Nov. 20, which should give Smith extended practice time to assimilate into defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s system. The Ravens (5-3), coming off their second straight win, travel to New Orleans on “Monday Night Football” on Nov. 7, and then have their bye week in Week 10.
This marks the third time in four seasons as Ravens general manager that Eric DeCosta made a deal in advance of the league’s trade deadline. In 2019, he acquired cornerback Marcus Peters in exchange for linebacker Kenny Young and a fifth-round pick. In 2020, DeCosta traded for outside linebacker Yannick Ngakoue, sending a pair of draft picks to Minnesota.
This story was updated after the Ravens made the trade official.