Bears Send Two First-Round Picks to the Titans for All-Pro Defensive Tackle Jeffery Simmons

By The Arena Staff

CHICAGO, Oct. 29, 2026 — The Chicago Bears decided their Super Bowl window is open right now, and they paid like it.

The Bears acquired All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, sending Tennessee their first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 plus a 2027 fourth-rounder. Chicago also gets a 2028 fifth-round pick back in the deal, which the Titans announced. According to ESPN Research, Simmons is the first defensive tackle in the common draft era, which began in 1967, to be traded for multiple first-round picks.

It is the biggest move yet in a week that has already seen the rebuilding Colts send Quenton Nelson to Seattle and DeForest Buckner to San Francisco. Unlike those deals, this one came from a buyer. The Bears are 5-2, and NFL.com's Nick Shook wrote that with quarterback Caleb Williams and other young contributors still on rookie contracts, general manager Ryan Poles saw a moment to strike.

Simmons, 29, spent his entire career in Tennessee after the Titans drafted him in the first round in 2019. Over eight seasons he piled up 46.5 sacks, 72 tackles for loss and 96 quarterback hits, ESPN reported. He has been just as disruptive this fall. Entering Week 8, his 28 pressures led all defensive tackles, per Next Gen Stats, and his 10 pressures and three sacks against double teams were also the best at his position, NFL.com noted.

The price reflects the contract as much as the player. Before the season, Simmons and the Titans agreed to a three-year, $105.8 million extension with $100 million guaranteed, keeping him under contract through 2030. Then Tennessee stumbled to 1-6, and his name surfaced ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline.

"There are few people like Jeff Simmons. We are forever grateful for all he has given this team and this city," Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. "He gave Nashville more than football."

The Titans lose a player who was on the field for 86.6% of their defensive snaps, and ESPN reported they will lean on a rotation led by veterans Solomon Thomas and John Franklin-Myers in the middle. In Chicago, Simmons joins a front that includes Grady Jarrett and expects edge rusher Montez Sweat back from a two-game suspension. Sweat and Simmons were teammates at Mississippi State.

He may not have to wait long for a big stage. The Bears face the defending champion Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.

Sources: ESPN, NFL.com and NBC Sports.