Falcon Report

Georgia's Roquan Smith Wants Bears Trade; Falcons Star Wants Him in Atlanta

Smith requested a trade Tuesday.

Jeremy Brener

The Atlanta Falcons are looking for any way to improve their squad, and they might be able to do so by adding one of the best linebackers in football.

According to NFL Network, Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith has requested a trade. Smith is unhappy with how his new contract negotiations have transpired with the Bears, who selected him with the 9th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

For a couple of reasons, the Falcons make sense as a potential trade candidate.

Smith is a Georgia native who went to college at the University of Georgia, and a trade to the Falcons would move him closer to home.

Falcons senior executive Ryan Pace was the general manager who drafted Smith while he was in Chicago. Since Pace's move to Atlanta, he's helped sign several of his former players, including Damien Williams, Damiere Byrd, Germain Ifedi, Elijah Wilkinson, Nick Kwiatkoski and Teez Tabor.

On top of that, another former teammate of Smith's isn't shy about wanting to team up with him again.

Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson, who played with Smith for two seasons in Chicago, tweeted his support to bring him to Atlanta ... going as far as changing his profile picture to a photo of Smith in his No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs jersey.

Smith is pricy and he will cost the Falcons a lot of money on his new deal, but he provides another building block alongside A.J. Terrell and Grady Jarrett for the defense.

Opportunities like this don't come every day, and the Falcons should at the bare minimum do their homework on Smith and consider the idea of bringing him home to Georgia.

Published
Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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