{"id":251749,"date":"2025-10-20T17:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T21:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=251749"},"modified":"2025-10-20T17:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T21:23:44","slug":"bears-cole-kmet-roquan-smith-ravens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/20\/bears-cole-kmet-roquan-smith-ravens\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears&#8217; Cole Kmet Reflects on Roquan Smith Trade Ahead of Ravens Matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bears\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago Bears<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/34919410\/source-ravens-acquire-lb-roquan-smith-trade-bears\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">traded<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/tag\/roquan-smith\/\" target=\"_self\">linebacker Roquan Smith<\/a> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/ravens\/\" target=\"_self\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a>\u00a0back in 2022, it sent shockwaves through Halas Hall. For <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/tag\/cole-kmet\/\" target=\"_self\">tight end Cole Kmet,<\/a> then in his third season with the team, the deal was more than just another roster move, it was a moment of realization about the harsh realities of professional football.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: Bears trade LB Roquan Smith to Ravens. (via <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RapSheet<\/a>) <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zSYKHPShUM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/zSYKHPShUM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL (@NFL) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL\/status\/1587165706839330816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 31, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was almost disbelief,&#8221; Kmet said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/10\/20\/chicago-bears-brad-biggs-10-thoughts-week-7\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via <em>Chicago Tribune&#8217;s<\/em> Brad Biggs.<\/a> &#8220;You just couldn&#8217;t believe it. It was kind of my first moment of realizing stuff has changed over from Ryan (Pace) to Ryan (Poles). It was a realization that really, at the end of the day, anybody is up for grabs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trading away Smith, who had been a team captain and the leader of the defense, came shortly after the Bears also dealt veteran defensive end Robert Quinn. Both were locker room cornerstones, and their departures left a noticeable void for a young team still searching for an identity at the time.<\/p>\n<h2>Chicago Bears Tight End Cole Kmet Reflects on Roquan Smith Trade and Its Lasting Impact on the Bears<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_237862\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-237862\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-237862\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Cole Kmet\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/Cole-Kmet-Trade-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-237862\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dec 26, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet (85) exits the field after warm ups before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kmet, who has now grown into one of Chicago&#8217;s more vocal leaders himself, vividly remembers how much Smith&#8217;s presence meant to the team.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Roquan really was\u00a0<em>the Bear.\u00a0<\/em>He would always do the pregame speeches. He was the unequivocal leader of the locker room and spirit in the locker room. I&#8217;ve got a lot of respect for Roquan. When I was here initially, we went (5-1) to start my rookie year (2020) and it was Roquan leading the charge with the defense.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For players like Kmet, the trade served as a sobering reminder that the NFL is as much as a business as it is a brotherhood.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was surprising and shocking,&#8221; Kmet admitted, &#8220;but you come to realize that maybe all but five or six people in this league can be traded.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>A Trade That Reshaped Two Teams<\/h3>\n<p>From the Bears&#8217; perspective, Poles made the move to gain future assets and build toward long-term success. But before he could sell the vision to fans and media, he had to explain it to the locker room, which required both honesty and empahty.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He actually pulled a few of us upstairs to tell us,&#8221; Kmet recalled. &#8220;The news had already gotten out but he said, &#8216;Hey, this is a decision we felt like we had to make for the organization going forward.&#8217; He understood some guys wouldn&#8217;t be very happy with that at the time. I think Ryan understands the emotional aspect and the relationship aspect and I don&#8217;t think it was easy for him to do either. I thought he handled it well in terms of how he portrayed it to the locker room and making sure guys understood.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The move also dramatically shifted the trajectory of Smith&#8217;s career. Once he arrived in Baltimore, Smith became the tone-setter for a defense that already boasted plenty of playmakers. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/tag\/devin-duvernay\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Wide receiver Devin Duvernay,<\/a> who was with the Ravens when they traded for Smith and is now with the Bears, remembers the day when Baltimore traded for Roquan.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I remember the day (Nov. 1, 2022) we traded for him. We got the alert and it was, &#8216;Damn, we&#8217;re getting Roquan Smith!&#8217; His impact was big. Sideline to sideline player. He was a tone stter for sure. He took over quickly as one of the leaders. Guys followed him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Smith on Facing His Former Team<\/h3>\n<p>Nearly two years laster, Smith will face his former team for the first time since the trade. It&#8217;s a matchup that has been circled on his calendar for months.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have a couple guys over there I still know,&#8221; Smith said on NFL Network earlier this year. &#8220;It&#8217;s going to be one I&#8217;ve been looking forward to for a little while now.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Smith also made it clear he&#8217;ll be ready to bring his trademark intensity against his old teammates: &#8220;Each and every guy who&#8217;s out there, lined up across from me. Whether that&#8217;s center, running back <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/tag\/dandre-swift\/\" target=\"_self\">(D&#8217;Andre) Swift<\/a> my guy from college (Georgia), a receiver across the middle, a tight end, whoever. Every single guy has to get dealt with.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s going to be a fun matchup when the Bears travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens, and hope is Kmet is a full go after suffering a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BearsPR\/status\/1979989210502136154\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">back injury<\/a> in the win against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/saints\" target=\"_self\">New Orleans Saints.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As for Smith, he said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jonas_shaffer\/status\/1980378073351717357\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he believes he&#8217;ll play on Sunday<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimoreravens.com\/news\/lamar-jackson-injury-report-roquan-smith-ravens-practice-after-bye\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">returned to practice from a hamstring injury<\/a> and has a &#8220;tremendous amount of respect&#8221; for the Bears.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Peter Casey &#8211; Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet gave a candid response on how trading Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens affected the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4976,"featured_media":251771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10,36,6431],"tags":[6188,6287,7638,3627,8857],"class_list":["post-251749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bears","category-ravens","category-nfl-news","category-nfl-teams","tag-cole-kmet","tag-devin-duvernay","tag-ravens-featured","tag-roquan-smith","tag-ryan-poles"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251749"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251778,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251749\/revisions\/251778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}