Chicago Bears: 3 takeaways from Roquan Smith’s first interview

“That’s between my agent and Mr. Pace”

Being that this was the longest holdout the Bears have experienced since running back Cedric Benson didn’t show up to camp during a 36-day holdout in 2005, a lot of media members were wondering about the specifics of Smith’s holdout. There were a lot of questions about who was really behind the dispute, was it more Smith or his agents?

Smith didn’t help the media out in regards to getting all the details of the holdout. As media member peppered Smith with questions, he went to a refrain regarding Bears GM Ryan Pace they would hear a lot over the five-plus minutes he spoke. Here’s Smith on his holdout after he was asked about what changed to make him sign the contract (all quotes via Chicago Bears):

"That’s between my agents and Mr. Pace, so that was something they had to deal with. And, uh, we got it all figured out…It’s like, they got it figured out so I’m happy they all got it figured out."

How about if Smith thought the holdout would take so long, lasting nearly a month? Here’s Smith’s reply:

"I didn’t really think about it like that, so I was just, you know, I just kept my faith in my agent and Mr. Pace that they would get things situated."

What about how involved Smith was in terms of the day-to-day of the holdout? Did he get frequent updates or dictate what he wanted his agents to do next? Here’s what Smith had to say:

"I was confident, just knowing I’m working doing what I can do. That’s why I hired my agent, and uh, Mr. Pace, for those guys to figure that out."

As you can see, Smith was pretty tight-lipped about the specifics of his holdout. Overall, he repeated some variation of “That’s between my agent(s) and Mr. Pace” over 10 times in about a five-minute span. Clearly, Smith is well-versed in the Marshawn Lynch style of speaking to the media.

Smith also added that he didn’t regret holding out at all saying that his contract dispute was, “Just the business side of things.”