Bears Acquire DT Jeffery Simmons From Titans for Two First-Round Picks and a Fourth

The Chicago Bears are acquiring All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons from the Tennessee Titans, ending his eight-year run with the only franchise he has played for. The deal was first reported Thursday, Oct. 29, by Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and Netflix Sports, and confirmed by ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Chicago sends Tennessee first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 plus a 2027 fourth-rounder. The Bears get Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick back, per Schefter.

A record price for an interior lineman

ESPN Research says Simmons is the first defensive tackle in the common draft era, dating to 1967, to be traded for multiple first-round picks.

It is also a first for Bears general manager Ryan Poles. He sent the No. 1 pick to Carolina in 2023 for receiver DJ Moore and four picks, but had never before traded multiple first-rounders.

Simmons is 29. Tennessee drafted him 19th overall in 2019. He has 46.5 career sacks, 72 tackles for loss and 96 quarterback hits, with four Pro Bowls. Last season he posted a career-high 11 sacks and earned his first first-team All-Pro selection.

This season, through seven games, he has four sacks, six tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits and 38 tackles. According to ESPN Analytics and NFL Next Gen Stats, his 27% pass rush win rate is the highest of any defensive tackle in the NFL in 2026.

The contract comes with him

Simmons signed a three-year, $105.8 million extension this offseason, including $100 million guaranteed. It runs through 2030, and its $35.28 million average annual value is third among NFL defensive tackles.

Chicago takes on all of it. The Titans shed it.

What Chicago is buying

The Bears are 5-2 and have one of the league's better offenses under coach Ben Johnson. The defense is where they have been vulnerable. They lost 31-7 to Green Bay in Week 5.

ESPN's numbers show why they went shopping. Under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who was hired in 2025, the Bears' standard four-man rush has produced a 25% pressure rate over the last two seasons, fourth lowest in the league. Chicago's interior defenders rank 23rd in pass rush win rate this season at 13%.

The run defense reads differently depending on the metric. Chicago is third in opponent rushing yards per game at 87.6, but ESPN has it giving up the 10th-most rushing yards per attempt and 26th in run stop win rate.

The interior line was thinned earlier, when Chicago sent Gervon Dexter Sr. to Atlanta for cornerback Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick, a deal that came two months before the Simmons trade. Dexter then signed a four-year, $78 million extension with the Falcons.

Defensive end Montez Sweat is also due back for the Bears' Week 8 game at defending champion Seattle on Nov. 2. He missed two games for violating the league's performance-enhancing substances policy.

What Tennessee is doing

The Titans are 1-6 and face Cincinnati this weekend, despite leading the league in offseason spending, according to CBS Sports. Simmons played 86.6% of the defensive snaps. Veterans Solomon Thomas and John Franklin-Myers will rotate into his spot.

Simmons gave no sign Wednesday that a move was coming. "Each and every day I wake up, my goal is to be where my feet are at," he told reporters. "I'm never looking ahead, just being in the moment each and every day."

The trade also raises questions about the team's direction at quarterback. One columnist cited by Rolling Out argued that general manager Mike Borgonzi would only trade a cornerstone like Simmons if he no longer believed Cam Ward can become a franchise quarterback. A different view in the same coverage holds that Tennessee can keep building around Ward and receiver Carnell Tate while using the extra picks to speed the rebuild. Neither is an announced Titans position.

The haul is substantial. Based on the current order, Tennessee holds the Nos. 2 and 28 picks in the first round of the 2027 draft.

Deadline approaching

The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 10. Indianapolis has already sent guard Quenton Nelson to Seattle and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to San Francisco this week, and Philadelphia traded center Cam Jurgens to Baltimore earlier this month. Houston previously acquired receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. from Arizona.

Simmons could make his Bears debut on Nov. 2 at Seattle, if the team has him ready.