Roquan Smith made some waves Tuesday morning by sending out a trade request. Hours later, the other key party in this negotiation — Bears GM Ryan Poles — responded by indicating Smith is still in the team’s plans.

The rookie GM said the intention still is to sign Smith, via the Chicago Sun-Times Jason Lieser (on Twitter), though Poles said he has to “do what’s best for the team.” Smith has been extension-eligible since January 2021, but the former top-10 pick is still tied to his fifth-year option salary ($9.7MM).

“My feelings for Roquan haven’t changed at all,” Poles said, via The Athletic’s Jeff Howe (on Twitter). “I think he’s a very good football player. I love the kid. I love what he’s done on the field, which makes me really disappointed with where we’re at right now. I thought we’d be in a better situation, to be completely honest with you.

“In terms of our philosophy in the front office, I’ve always believed that we take care of our homegrown talent. We pay them and we take care of them.”

Poles is not ruling out a trade, Lieser tweets, but that is not the new Bears boss’ goal here. It would, however, be consistent with an offseason of change in Chicago. In his first months as GM, Poles has largely dismantled Chicago’s once-formidable front seven.

Khalil Mack is now a Charger, being traded for second- and sixth-round picks, and Akiem Hicks is a Buccaneer, having signed with Tampa Bay after Chicago did not make a known effort to retain him in free agency. Poles also cut longtime starters Eddie Goldman, who has since retired, and Danny Trevathan. Robert Quinn may still loom as a trade candidate, though the defensive end said recently he does not wish to be dealt for a third time.

Smith has accused the Bears of not negotiating in good faith, having reportedly received a backloaded offer that would be “bad for the LB market.” Poles offered a counter of sorts, indicating there are “record-setting pieces” within the Bears’ proposal. Shaquille Leonard‘s $19.7MM-per-year contract currently tops the off-ball linebacker market.

“With this situation, we’ve shown respect from a very early timeframe,” Poles said. “With that said, there are record-setting pieces of this contract that I knew for a fact, I thought was going to show him the respect that he deserves. Obviously, that hasn’t been the case. With that said, we can’t lose sight that this isn’t about one player. My job is to build a roster that is going to sustain success for a long period of time.”

The Bears still have Eddie Jackson around from Ryan Pace‘s batch of defensive extensions, but the rest of the group that helped Chicago rise to a top-five defense is gone. Matt Eberflus appears to have a fixer-upper on his hands, with the Bears’ offseason not making it a secret the team is rebuilding.

But the Bears have nearly $19MM in cap space and do not have many known long-term cornerstones or high-end contracts on their roster. Smith, 25, would certainly profile as a building-block player. Although the fifth-year inside linebacker has no Pro Bowls on his resume, he is a two-time second-team All-Pro. The Bears could also extract some value for the Georgia product in a trade, though that would leave the team quite thin at linebacker. A subsequent Quinn trade would require a near-full-scale rebuild along Chicago’s front seven.

Trade requests, of course, do not always precede trades. The 49ers’ Deebo Samuel saga is the latest negotiation to produce an extension following a trade request. The 49ers also had a Samuel franchise tag in their back pocket. Unless the Bears are prepared to carry a $20MM Smith cap charge on their 2023 books come March, with on- and off-ball linebackers grouped together on the tag, they do not have such a luxury. That raises the stakes for this summer’s negotiations a bit.

Many of the biggest names around the NFL have reported to their team’s training camps already, or are expected to when practices begin later this week. The situation is significantly different in Chicago as it pertains to linebacker Roquan Smith. 

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Smith will not participate in the Bears’ camp tomorrow, the scheduled day for veterans to report (Twitter link). He therefore represents the first known case of a “hold-in” in 2022. Finances are at the heart of the move; Smith is set to play on the fifth-year option this season, which is valued at $9.74MM. The veteran linebacker is not attached to an agent, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, who notes a family member is in an advisory role here.

A long-term deal has widely been viewed as the goal on both sides, given Smith’s ascendance into one of the league’s top young linebackers. In 2021, he ranked fifth in the NFL with 163 tackles, adding three sacks, an interception and three pass breakups. The idea of an extension has been in consideration for months, but little progress has clearly been made.

When asked about getting a deal finalized before the start of the 2022 campaign, new general manager Ryan Poles said in May, “I don’t know if that’s how we’re going to handle it, but I would like to. Obviously the earlier you get to that, the better. But also with a new staff, we may wait a little bit, too.”

Rapoport adds that the 25-year-old has not received an offer that he would “remotely consider” to date, leading to his decision to sit out. The LB market hasn’t seen the upward trend of other position groups this offseason, but the deal given to Foyesade Oluokun in free agency (averaging $15MM per year) could be used as a benchmark in negotiations.

The Bears have moved on from a number of expensive front seven veterans this spring, freeing up future cap space as they look to rebuild around a new core. Smith figures to be a central member of that group, but plenty of work apparently needs to be done before he is officially on the books for the long-term future.

While one of his teammates may be pushing for a new contract, Roquan Smith isn’t thinking about his next big deal. Speaking to reporters earlier this week, the Bears linebacker said he isn’t thinking about his inevitable extension.

[RELATED: NT Eddie Goldman No-Shows Bears Mandatory Minicamp]

“That’s going to come when it comes,” Smith said (via Sean Hammon of the Daily Herald). “I’m not too focused on that. My main focus right now is OTAs, getting out here with my teammates.”

The linebacker also noted that staying in Chicago is “definitely something” he wants. Smith was one of the few veteran defenders to show up to Bears OTAs (alongside defensive backs Tashaun Gipson and Desmond Trufant), and he certainly wasn’t going to skip mandatory minicamp in pursuit of his next deal.

“If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse, in my opinion,” Smith said. “So I feel like there’s a lot of things I’ve learned out there, bonding with some of new guys that are here, with some of the rookies as well, and also just learning little new things into the defense.”

The Bears picked up the 2018 first-round pick’s fifth-year option earlier this offseason, meaning Smith will earn around $9.735MM in 2022. While the 24-year-old still has two years remaining on his rookie deal, he could certainly make an argument for a raise. The former No. 8 pick has started 42 of his 44 games for the Bears, and he enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2020, compiling 139 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, four sacks, seven passes defensed, and 2 interceptions.