Ravens‘ First-Team All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith is ready for revenge in 2025. During an appearance on NFL Network’s NFL Schedule Release ’25, Smith said he has two games circled on his calendar. The first is a rematch of last year’s AFC Divisional Round game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1. The other is a matchup against the Chicago Bears, Smith’s former team, in Week 8.
Ravens Using ‘Misery’ as Motivation for Revenge Throughout Offseason
Smith told Eisen that he had his eye on their first game, which should be no surprise. They will start with a road matchup against the Buffalo Bills, a rematch of their final game in 2024 – a 27-25 loss in the AFC Divisional Round.
“That’s how you start the season off and that’s gonna set the tone for the entire season,” Smith said.
Eisen pointed out that the game was at the Buffalo Bills, which made Smith smile as he said, “Just how I like it.”
“Revenge is best served as a cold dish. So, it’ll be nice to get up there in Buffalo and get a little payback for those guys from the end of the year.”
When asked about how much he’s been thinking about the matchup between the Ravens and the Bills in the last few months, Smith said “Misery sets in all offseason and you use that as motivation throughout the offseason.”
Smith said that the Ravens know they have everything it takes to be the best team in the league, but they will have to show that “game in and game out.”
Matchup Against Bears Will Be ‘Sweet’ for Smith
During his first four seasons in the league, Smith progressed rapidly. He led the Bears in tackles each year, earning 2nd Team All-Pro honors in both 2020 and 2021. But, according to ESPN‘s Courtney Cronin, the Bears’ timeline and valuation didn’t match Smith’s. Ultimately, they did not want to pay him $20 million per year and “reset the off-ball linebacker market” with the team “clearly geared toward building on offense.”
Smith publicly demanded a trade in August 2022, but decided to play out his $9.7 million fifth-year option. Two months later, on October 31, the Bears traded him to the Ravens for linebacker A.J. Klein and a 2nd-round pick and 5th-round pick in 2023. At the time, he had a league-leading 83 tackles, with 2 1/2 sacks and 2 interceptions in just 8 games. He ended up finishing with the third-most tackles (83) and the fourth-most sacks (2 1/2) by any Bear in 2022.
Smith smiled and told Rich Eisen he’s “definitely excited” and it’ll be “sweet” to face his former team.
“I’m very excited for that one, you know,” Smith said. “I have a couple guys over there that I still know, keep up with and a lot of my friends are still in Chicago. So, I know a lot of them are going to be here at the game. It’s going to be one that I’m looking forward to for a little while now. I’m very excited about it so whenever and wherever we play them, I’m very excited about that one.”
Eisen asked if there’s anybody in particular that he’d have something special for. Smith mentioned running back D’Andre Swift, his college teammate at the University of Georgia. But he said he’ll be ready to go after “each and every guy who’s lined up across from me.”
“At the end of the day, every single person has to get dealt with, in each and every game,” said Smith.
Clearly, Roquan Smith is ready to dole out some punishment to every Ravens opponent in 2025. But their matchups against the Bills and Bears may lead to some bigger hits in the name of revenge.
