Mike Singletary: 'Trading Roquan was tough for me' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Legendary linebacker Mike Singletary joined the latest episode of NBC Sports Chicago's Under Center podcast and shared his thoughts on the current state of the Bears. For the most part, the Hall of Famer is a fan of the recent developments and believes the future is bright with Justin Fields leading the team. But he was a little wary of one of the biggest moves Ryan Poles made over the past year.
“Trading Roquan (Smith) was tough for me,” Singletary said. “I mean, I get it. You play in Tampa 2, maybe your middle linebacker doesn't have to be Roquan. But I do think that Roquan Smith is more than a middle linebacker. He was just an outstanding leader, person, and I was really excited about him.”
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The reason Singletary said he understands the decision to move off of Smith considering Matt Eberflus’ scheme, is because of the importance of the defensive line.
“You have to have those guys coming off the ball,” Singletary said. “Because when you're playing Tampa 2 the quarterbacks know where you're going to be, they have an idea. So, you give a good quarterback that much time, you know, more than three seconds, and it's going to be a long day. So you’ve got to invest in those front four guys.”
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Interestingly, the Bears have yet to make a serious investment in the defensive line. They signed defensive end DeMarcus Walker to a three-year, $21 million deal, but Walker has never played more than a rotational role in his career before. They also brought in Andrew Billings on a one-year deal, but he projects to be a rotational player as well. There are still some big names available on the market and in the draft, so Poles still has plenty of opportunities to add impact players on the defensive line. Singletary expects that’s exactly what will happen.
“Moving forward, I do think that they're going to invest in the front four and then next tier linebackers and then going out to the corners, you got to have some physical corners,” Singletary said. “So I'm hoping that it all plays out. But, you know, leaders are really hard to come by and I'm hoping that (the Smith trade) doesn't come back and bite them in the butt.”
