UPDATE: Roquan Smith traded to the Ravens for picks and a player

According to multiple reports, the Chicago Bears are trading All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting the deal is for a second and a fifth-round draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

• Update: Baltimore is also sending linebacker A.J. Klein to Chicago in the deal. The 31-year-old Klein has played in 136 games in his career with 81 starts during time with the Panthers, Saints, Bills, and the Ravens, and in 2022 he played in 2 games with 1 start.
• Updated: Per Adam Schefter, “the Bears are paying Smith $4.833 million while the Ravens are paying him $575,000 for the rest of the season, per sources.”
• Trade Compensation Update: The second the Ravens sent to the Bears is their pick, but Bears will get the higher of the Ravens’ 2023 fifth-round picks, which will either be their own or the Patriots’ fifth-rounder.

With this deal and the Robert Quinn deal last week, the Bears now have nine selections in the upcoming draft; 1st, 2nd, 2nd (from Baltimore), 3rd, 4th, 4th (from Philadelphia), 5th, 5th (from Baltimore), and 7th.

Smith was a hold-in during training camp as he was seeking a new contract, but the Bears were not able to meet his demands. There was a report of a contract on the table from Chicago, but it wasn’t one that Smith was willing to sign. He agreed to play this season and head back to the negotiating table in the offseason, and through eight games he had racked up 83 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2.5 sacks, 3 QB hits, and 3 passes defended.

General manager Ryan Poles is seemingly loading up on picks to couple with his more than $100 million in salary cap space in 2023, to make a huge splash to his roster.

Update: Per Over The Cap, since the Bears picked up the salaries of both Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith they are now at “nearly $85M in dead money this year.”