Ravens acquire LB Roquan Smith in trade with Bears

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens filled the biggest void in the middle of their defense with the NFL’s leading tackler.

The Ravens acquired Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith on Monday, a team source confirmed, completing the deal a day before the NFL trade deadline. A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Ravens are sending the Bears a second- and a fifth-round pick in 2023 for Smith, who tops the NFL with 83 tackles this season.

As part of the trade, the Ravens also sent linebacker A.J. Klein to Chicago, a source told Schefter.

Smith was owed $5.408 million for the rest of the season. As part of the trade agreement, the Bears are paying Smith $4.833 million while the Ravens are paying him the league-minimum $575,000 for the rest of the season, sources told Schefter.

Baltimore has long been looking to upgrade at inside linebacker, as Josh Bynes has struggled and Patrick Queen has fallen short of first-round expectations. In late March, the Ravens were close to landing free agent Bobby Wagner, who decided to sign with the Los Angeles Rams. Smith, 25, has the second-most tackles (606) in the NFL since 2018, trailing only Wagner (656).

A two-time second-team All-Pro, Smith provides leadership and playmaking ability to a Ravens defense that is allowing 22.9 points per game, which ranks 20th in the NFL. That’s on pace for Baltimore’s worst defensive scoring ranking since 2015. This is another aggressive move by Eric DeCosta, who made his third trade-deadline deal in his fourth year as Ravens general manager. Baltimore acquired cornerback Marcus Peters in 2019 and pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue in 2020. Fox Sports first reported the trade.

Smith was playing out the final year of his rookie contract — a…