Chicago Bears fans watched DeForest Buckner go to San Francisco for a fourth-round pick last week and wondered when Ryan Poles would answer with a move of his own. He made the biggest one available Thursday morning, landing Jeffery Simmons in a deal with the Tennessee Titans that cost Chicago two first-round picks.
Tom Pelissero reported the full terms. Chicago sends its 2027 and 2028 first-rounders plus a 2027 fourth to Tennessee and gets the two-time second-team All-Pro defensive tackle and a 2028 fifth-round pick back.
Simmons fixes the weakest spot up front
Anyone who has watched this defense at Soldier Field knows where the hole was. Kentavius Street is listed as a starter next to Grady Jarrett, and he has two pressures on 81 pass-rush snaps this season. His 50.0 overall PFF grade ranks 97th among 126 qualified interior defenders. Jarrett has 15 pressures and no sacks. When PFF built its fairy-tale deadline trades last week, Chicago’s interior defenders had the third-worst grade in the league and a 9.5% pressure rate tied for 30th.
The room got thinner when Poles traded Gervon Dexter Sr. to Atlanta in August.
Simmons changes that math. He owns a 76.7 PFF grade, 12th at the position, and his 80.5 pass-rush grade ranks fifth. His 24 pressures rank third among interior defenders, and his 20 stops lead them. Ben Johnson has praised his defense’s progress against the run, and Chicago ranks third in rushing yards allowed per game. The Bears are 22nd in dropback EPA allowed since Week 5, though, and that’s where Simmons should help most.
What Chicago is paying for Simmons
Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images
When we laid out a dream trade for Simmons last week, the price was a first and more. Poles paid two. He also takes on what’s left of Simmons’ $13 million base salary this season and a $26.95 million guaranteed salary in 2027, part of the three-year, $105.8 million extension that made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history in June.
Simmons didn’t see it coming. “I haven’t heard anything from my agent, I haven’t heard anything from this organization,” he said Wednesday, per the Titans’ website.
At 5-2, the Bears are betting those two picks land late in the first round. Poles may not be finished, either, with Titans edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II and Khalil Mack among the four big names linked to Chicago before the Nov. 10 deadline.
More on the Chicago Bears
- Bears Have a Five-Star Position Matchup Brewing That They Must Win in Week 8
- No Trade Needed? Bears Believe They Have Tight End Solution Already in House
- Bears’ Blockbuster Trade for Jeffery Simmons Creates a New Monster of the Midway
- Ben Johnson Is Pleased With Bears Defense’s Progress in One Big Area
