Chicago Bears: 5 major impacts of Roquan Smith holdout
By Ryan Heckman
Nick Kwiatkoski future deal getting spendy
The guy stepping up over the course of training camp while Smith remains out is, of course, third-year linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski. The former West Virginia Mountaineer is getting an opportunity to shine during summer practices and has done so thus far.
Kwiatkoski is one of the standout players through the first several practices of training camp. He has put together a very solid camp. Kwiatkoski has become one of those players who is simply learning to do his job. That sounds odd, I know. But, it’s almost reminiscent of the New England Patriots’ motto under Bill Belichick, “Do your job.”
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Kwiatkoski is a player who simply strives to take each play, individually, and make it a new beginning. From the looks of it over camp so far, he is doing just that. His effort has been there, and from the couple of days I was down there watching him, I would be completely comfortable if he was somehow the Week 1 starter.
Mitchell Trubisky throws his first interception of the day to Nick Kwiatkoski, who probably would return it for a TD in a real game. pic.twitter.com/weSIbTnbru
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) July 28, 2018
Take Smith out of the picture for a moment, and if Kwiatkoski was indeed the starting linebacker next to Danny Trevathan, I think the Bears would be just fine.
Following the 2019 season, Kwiatkoski will be a free agent. This summer has been a huge boost in his side of negotiations for the future. He has obviously improved greatly since his rookie campaign, and looks to be doing so yet again, going into his third season. Kwiatkoski will end up finding a decent contract come 2019, and maybe it’s not with the Bears.
If he continues his ascension, Kwiatkoski could absolutely be a starting linebacker for another team. Don’t think other teams aren’t paying attention to this scenario.