The Chicago Bears got engulfed in a front office controversy recently when linebacker Roquan Smith publicly expressed his desire to get traded. While Smith has since returned to practice with the Bears and has decided to play out the remainder of his current contract, there's no guarantee that the drama between his side and Chicago won't flare up again any time soon.

Apparently, part of the problem during the contract negotiation process between the Bears and Smith was the latter's dependence on a certain Saint Omni, an individual not officially recognized by the NFL.

Here's more from Chris Emma of 670 The Score:

“The negotiations proved to be bizarre because Smith wasn’t just working on his own. He sought the services of an advisor who goes by the name of Saint Omni, whom the NFL Management Council specified in an Aug. 15 memo was “prohibited” from contacting teams on Smith’s behalf, as Courtney Cronin of ESPN first reported. Such conversations violate the collectively bargained rules, which require that only a certified agent can contact teams on behalf of a client in such a situation.”

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Omni was also described as “Shady as hell” by a league source, per Emma.

That being said, Roquan Smith does seem to have total trust in Omni, saying that “Saint is someone I know, trust and has my best interests at heart.”

It is also important to note that Roquan Smith does not have a certified agent. As an advisor to Smith, Omni isn't also allowed to negotiate on Smith's behalf.

Roquan Smith will enter the 2022 NFL season expecting a salary worth $9.735 million before potentially hitting the free-agent market in 2023.