It was overshadowed, perhaps, by the backup and passing downs running backs changing teams, but the Ravens made a move which might have a significant NFL impact the rest of the way. They acquired linebacker Roquan Smith from the Bears, giving up just second- and fifth-round picks.
The Bears, for whatever reason, haven't wanted to pay Smith, who will now be looking for a few contract from Baltimore. Given his body of work, they'll probably go ahead and do that.
Smith in his 4.5 seasons in the league has 607 total tackles. That ranks 2nd behind only Bobby Wagner over that span. He also has 16.5 tackles, which ranks 4th among the top 30 tacklers since 2018.
COMBINED TACKLES, 2018-PRESENT | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | G | Sk | Solo | Ast | Comb |
Bobby Wagner | 70 | 10.0 | 376 | 280 | 656 |
Roquan Smith | 69 | 16.5 | 400 | 207 | 607 |
Fred Warner | 72 | 6.0 | 369 | 197 | 566 |
Shaquille Leonard | 60 | 15.0 | 347 | 197 | 544 |
Foyesade Oluokun | 72 | 6.0 | 326 | 215 | 541 |
Jordan Hicks | 68 | 10.5 | 349 | 188 | 537 |
De'Vondre Campbell | 72 | 7.5 | 347 | 185 | 532 |
Zach Cunningham | 64 | 5.0 | 341 | 185 | 526 |
Budda Baker | 70 | 6.5 | 374 | 151 | 525 |
Eric Kendricks | 62 | 6.5 | 316 | 208 | 524 |
Lavonte David | 66 | 9.0 | 357 | 160 | 517 |
Tremaine Edmunds | 67 | 6.5 | 328 | 187 | 515 |
Joe Schobert | 64 | 7.5 | 306 | 192 | 498 |
Demario Davis | 72 | 21.0 | 331 | 157 | 488 |
Blake Martinez | 54 | 11.0 | 291 | 191 | 482 |
Jaylon Smith | 63 | 9.0 | 294 | 187 | 481 |
Myles Jack | 64 | 4.0 | 294 | 177 | 471 |
Cory Littleton | 71 | 8.5 | 293 | 177 | 470 |
Shaq Thompson | 66 | 8.5 | 291 | 175 | 466 |
Jerome Baker | 72 | 18.5 | 296 | 156 | 452 |
Anthony Walker | 63 | 4.5 | 294 | 153 | 447 |
Jordan Poyer | 69 | 8.0 | 316 | 129 | 445 |
Jessie Bates III | 71 | 0.0 | 313 | 131 | 444 |
Vonn Bell | 69 | 3.5 | 290 | 137 | 427 |
Devin White | 53 | 18.0 | 279 | 143 | 422 |
Kevin Byard | 72 | 3.0 | 287 | 131 | 418 |
Deion Jones | 56 | 8.5 | 269 | 147 | 416 |
Harrison Smith | 68 | 7.5 | 302 | 110 | 412 |
Logan Ryan | 65 | 10.5 | 277 | 132 | 409 |
Leighton Vander Esch | 60 | 3.5 | 257 | 149 | 406 |
One other notable defender changed teams yesterday: Denver pass rusher Bradley Chubb (5.5 sacks), going to Miami. This I think is a win-win deal. The Dolphins Defense needed help, while Denver might be able to get by without Chubb, who hadn't been much of a factor for them most of his career. Moreover, the Broncos get a first-round pick in the deal, which is huge -- they didn't have a first or a second because of the Russell Wilson deal. Now they do.
Chubb gets to start his Dolphins career with a matchup with Justin Fields, who's been sacked a league-high 31 times. Giddyup.
--Andy Richardson