The Bears’ circus will be a traveling one.
Linebacker Roquan Smith, who continued to “hold in” on Tuesday by merely watching practice from the sideline, will be on the Bears’ charter flight to Seattle, head coach Matt Eberflus said Tuesday.
He won’t play in Thursday night’s preseason game, of course. Smith has yet to practice all training camp while he continues an increasingly ham-handed negotiation for a new contract worth about $100 million over five years.
Eberflus wouldn’t say whether the Bears are fining Smith for missed practices. He’s missed three since the team took him off the physically unable to perform list Wednesday. He said he feels good about his relationship with the linebacker.
“Really, I don’t have anything,” he said. “All I can say is that it is where it is right now. And we’re day-to-day. Is he in the building? Yes. Is he engaged? Yes. ...
“I would just say this with all the players: You’re always working on relationships. I know I say that a lot. But it’s so important, with Roquan and any other player. It’s important to keep the relationship and communication open and on the table, and that’s what we’re trying to do day-to-day with all of our players.”
Smith requested a trade one week ago and has since publicly fumbled an already-stalled negotiation. Monday, the NFL’s management council sent an email to all 32 teams warning them not to talk to Saint Omni, a man who’d been contacting clubs saying he represented Smith. Omni is not an NFLPA-certified agent and cannot negotiate with the Bears or other teams. Even if he were, he couldn’t talk to the other 31 NFL teams without written permission from the Bears. The Bears have given that permission.
