Ravens’ Roquan Smith Thanks Bears for Trade So His Career Didn't Go ‘Down the Drain’

The Ravens linebacker savagely roasted the Bears while thanking them for trading him away.

Roquan Smith appears to be enjoying his new home since the middle of the 2022 NFL season. He's had no problem making it fully known how much he loves playing for the Ravens following the trade. But the 26-year-old linebacker was also extremely candid about where he believed his career was heading if he were still a member of the Bears.

After Smith got past the shock of being traded, it took him a couple of weeks to realize "how stacked" Baltimore is, as he told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. And while Smith admitted it was bittersweet to leave the team and city he began his NFL career with, he sent one final parting jab for the franchise recently as well.

“And when I just think about it from the perspective of having the opportunity to compete for one year in and year out with the talent we have. Man, it makes me so happy, just knowing my career is not going down the drain, in the sense of playing somewhere where I’m not truly competing for a title," Smith told Breer.

It's never good to hear a former player reference their career potentially going "down the drain" prior to being traded. You have to appreciate the brutally honest answer about his feelings relating to the deal while being open in assessing his outlook on both sides of the fence.