Philly Front Office

I have only paid attention to the Bears twice since Sexy Rexy Grossman took them to an improbable Super Bowl back in 2007 and they are nothing directly Eagles related. In 2018 they traded with the Raiders for Khalil Mack, then in 2022 they sent Roquan Smith to the Ravens. Two defenders at the top of their positions were traded at the same point in their careers for vastly different returns. They tell us all we need to know about contracts and trade values.

Friday, November 28, 2025 – Chicago Bears at Eagles
3pm on PRIME at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

Setting the scene for both trades, Mack and Smith were each All-Pros and former top 10 picks who had completed 4 seasons in the league. What happens after a first rounder finishes their 4th season? That’s right, they need a contract extension.¹ Well, neither the Raiders with Mack or the Bears with Smith wanted to do that.

Khalil Mack

The Raiders picked Mack 5th overall out of SUNY Buffalo in the 2014 NFL Draft. He was immediately good finishing 3rd in DROY voting then earning First Team All-Pro in his second season thanks to his 15 sacks. His 3rd year though, Mack was named Defensive Player of the Year. You can imagine this meant he wanted to be paid accordingly. Well, the Raiders had no interest in doing that because they are the Raiders.

Right before the start of the 2018 season, the Raiders traded him to Chicago for a haul. They received two 2019 firsts (19 and 24) plus a 2020 3rd. and a 2019 6th. The Bears would also receive a 2020 2nd (43) and a 2020 7th. Essentially though, this was slightly less than two 1sts in value. Mack promptly signed a 6/$141m contract to become the highest paid defender in NFL history. Despite never hitting his DPOY peak again in Chicago, Mack didn’t disappoint. He finished runner up for the award in his first year along with another First Team All-Pro nod. In his 4 years with the Bears, he finished with 36 sacks before being traded to the Chargers for a 2nd round pick.

Roquan Smith

With the 8th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Bears selected Smith out of Georgia. While Mack was considered a pass rushing linebacker, Smith is your more traditional middle linebacker, captain of the defense type. While he did not have the heights of Mack, Smith did finish Second Team All-Pro in years 3 and 4.

While Mack held out of training camp, Smith reported to camp but didn’t practice in his quest for a contract extension. It didn’t work. Instead of dealing him in the offseason, the Bears traded Smith to the Ravens before the trade deadline in 2022. The trade got them a 2023 2nd (53) and a 5th, plus a guy named AJ Klein who was waived 2 weeks later. At the end of that first abbreviated season in Baltimore, Smith signed a 5/$100 deal to remain a Raven. It was, and still is, the largest contract ever signed by a middle linebacker (and it is not particularly close). Since the trade, Smith has been named First Team All-Pro 3 consecutive years.

In an interesting post trade note, the Bears gave out the second richest ILB contract that offseason by signing Tremaine Edmunds away from Buffalo for 4/$72m. That’s probably pretty close to the same number they were offering Smith. Considering it is a year less, it really wasn’t that far off the deal Smith signed in Baltimore. You have to think they would rather have All Pro Smith rather than all nothing Edmunds plus a bad second round pick and $2m extra per year.

What Have We Learned?

Even though it was 7 years ago, the Mack trade still dictates the pass rush market. When Dallas was weighing offers for Micah Parsons it was a similar situation. One of the best pass rushers in the league was in need of a new contract and Jerry Jones didn’t want to pay him. The bidding would have to start at Khalil Mack and go from there. Anything less wouldn’t be worth it. He ended up going for Kenny Clark, a 2026 first, and a 2027 first. That’s basically just the next step up from Mack. Myles Garrett’s name was going in trade talk this year and a ransom of three firsts was bandied about. No one bit.

When Smith was traded, he was a star that was still ascending. Despite that, Chicago couldn’t even get a first round pick for him. Trading him to Baltimore, Chicago knew that even the 2nd round pick they received wouldn’t be very good. At #53, it wasn’t. If Smith in need of a contract wasn’t worth much, then no middle linebacker will be worth it. There have not been any significant linebacker trades since this one.

After this season, Smith will be 29. He is still under contract and his resume is much better now than before he was traded. Would he get the same thing back in a trade now? Probably not. At best he probably nets the same trade terms.

Teams have different needs in the draft and there are different circumstances that dictate how things play out. If you were ever wondering why the Eagles draft the way they do, this is why. The value of a linebacker or a tight end is simply not the same as a defensive end or wide receiver, even if the player turns into the best in the league.

As Eagles fans, we see Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean doing their job every week. They are the glue of our defense and more impressive than our defensive ends. However, if for some reason we were to trade any of them, Nolan Smith would unquestionably get more in a trade than either of them.² You can get an inside linebacker if you really want one, but nabbing a pass rusher is going to cost you.

1. Technically they are eligible after their 3rd season, but in the 5th season things start to get expensive. After the 4th season is usually the last chance to extend before there’s some acrimony. ↩︎
2. I know Dean is in the last year of his contract and can’t be traded. This was just illustrative ↩︎