Here is why the Broncos won’t make a trade for Roquan Smith
Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith could be joining a new team soon and the Denver Broncos have been mentioned in connection with that news.
Roquan Smith was chosen with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and he has been an excellent player for the Chicago Bears across the last four seasons. But on Tuesday, the star linebacker made public his wishes to be traded away from the team that drafted him.
There are several teams around the league that would love to add Smith to their mix, but the Denver Broncos certainly make sense.
Eric Edholm of NFL.com has the Broncos on a short list of teams to acquire him and we can also come up with more than one reason why this move makes sense.
But it is also a move that is unlikely to happen.
Though Broncos general manager George Paton is certainly not afraid to shuffle around his roster with a deal or two, he could be putting the team in a tough spot in the future by making a deal for Smith.
The Bears are not likely to part with a young, disruptive, athletic linebacker such as Smith, one they used a first-round pick to obtain and who is still in the prime of his career, easily. In other words, he won’t go for cheap.
The Broncos don’t have the assets to trade for Roquan Smith
A team that acquires Smith will almost certainly have to give up some future draft picks. Because of previous trades that Paton has made, most notably the one to acquire Russell Wilson, the Broncos only have five draft picks in next year’s draft at the moment.
In addition to a lack of picks, the Broncos will have some money to shell out soon in order to keep key pieces of the current roster where they are at and that includes a hefty contract extension that is certainly coming for Wilson.
The Broncos would be hamstrung financially by bringing in a guy like Smith, who will also command top dollar, and it would lead to the team having to let go of some players they likely would not want to let go of, just to get under the salary cap.
The Broncos also seem quite happy with what they have in Jonas Griffith, who is obviously a much cheaper option.
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Smith coming to Denver would be exciting and would give the team the athletic playmaker it has sorely needed at the inside linebacker position, but logistically, it would be a stretch.