Roquan Smith had played his entire NFL career with the Bears before they traded him to the Ravens in the middle of last season, and after getting over the initial shock, Smith found himself delighted to be playing for a contender.
The Ravens are currently among the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl, while the Bears are 2-16 since trading Smith, the worst record in the NFL over that time. Smith is glad to be out of Chicago.
“Man, it’s pretty crazy thinking back to when I was initially traded,” Smith told Abert Breer of SI.com. “It was bittersweet for me, just knowing Chicago and rightfully so. But if I would’ve stayed there, honestly, [I] wouldn’t have been able to compete for a title anytime soon. And then when I came over here, it took me a while, like a couple of weeks, to really realize how stacked this team was, as well as how many good people there are on this team, and how they just bring in truly good people. 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 thinks the Ravens are the franchise he was meant to play for.
“That’s something I really pride myself on and just coming here,” Smith said. “We live it every single day. And it’s from top to bottom. And I just couldn’t be more excited just to be a part of a great organization that I am.”
The 26-year-old Smith signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Ravens, and he looks poised to play the prime of his career in Baltimore. Just where he wants to be.
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