CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears traded for Tennessee Titans All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons on Thursday, exchanging their 2027 and 2028 first-round draft picks and a 2027 fourth-round pick for Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick.

Simmons, 29, is a three-time All-Pro (one first-team and two second-team nods) and four-time Pro Bowl selection who has spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the Titans. He was a cornerstone of a perennial playoff contender several years ago, but the Titans have entered a new phase with a new general manager and head coach.

Simmons immediately becomes the centerpiece of the Bears defensive line, which has struggled to find a difference maker at tackle the last several years.

The trade comes 12 days before the Nov. 10 deadline, but the market already heated up this week with the Indianapolis Colts selling off several key veterans. With the Titans looking toward the future, they sent Simmons to a Bears team that believes its window to compete is now.

Over his career, Simmons has 46 1/2 sacks, nine forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and 31 pass deflections. He had a career-high 11 sacks and 17 tackles for a loss last season, when he earned his first first-team All-Pro selection. Through seven games this season he has four sacks and six tackles for a loss.

According to ESPN Analytics, Simmons ranks first in pass-rush “win rate” among defensive tackles at 27%. The Bears will pair him with veteran tackle Grady Jarrett, who ranks 18th in that metric, winning 16% of his chances.

The trade reunites Simmons with Bears defensive end Montez Sweat. They played two seasons together at Mississippi State in 2017-18. Simmons was the 19th pick in the 2019 draft, going seven spots ahead of Sweat.

Asked on Wednesday about the upcoming trade deadline, Simmons told reporters in Tennessee that he was focused on the present. He indicated that he had not asked for a trade.

“My goal is never changing,” Simmons said. “I don’t worry about the things that I can’t control. Them type of things is also a distraction. I mean, that’s a lot of fans and outside media. I haven’t heard anything from my agent. I haven’t heard anything from this organization. As far as I know, I’m going to be here.”

That changed less than 24 hours later.

Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi and Bears GM Ryan Poles worked together for 13 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs before landing their current jobs. Borgonzi told reporters in Tennessee on Thursday that he had fielded many calls about Simmons since taking over as GM in 2025 but never really considered trading him.

A call from Poles on Wednesday night changed that.

“He’s really the only person that came out and said, ‘Would you accept this?' ” Borgonzi said. “And you have to take in all the information at that point. And I had a conversation with Coach (Robert) Saleh last night, discussed it, discussed where we’re at as a roster, as a team. And like I said, these decisions are never easy.”

Borgonzi said he also had a frank conversation with Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk on Thursday morning about the state of the roster as they sit at 1-6 on the season. They came to the conclusion it was best to move on.

“It was really hard,” Borgonzi said. “I don’t think Jeff wanted to leave here. I thanked him for everything he’s done here, on and off the field. It’s a really hard conversation for him. It’s also a great opportunity for him, too, as I told him, to go someplace and have an opportunity to compete, now, for the Super Bowl.”

Adams Strunk released a statement thanking Simmons for his time in Nashville.

“There are few people like Jeff Simmons,” she said. “We are forever grateful for all he has given this team and this city.”

Simmons is under contract through 2030, with a void year in 2031, after signing an extension in June that included an additional three years and $105.8 million with $55.8 million in new guaranteed money. The deal briefly made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL, though he since has been passed by the Dallas Cowboys’ Quinnen Williams and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Carter.

After the trade, Simmons’ 2027 salary-cap number is estimated at $22.5 million, per OverTheCap.com, before pushing north of $30 million in 2028.

Poles has struggled to find a cornerstone at defensive tackle. The Bears passed on a chance to draft Carter in 2023. The Eagles selected him after swapping first-round picks with the Bears, who took a future All-Pro offensive tackle in Darnell Wright instead. At the time, Carter faced notable off-the-field questions.

In that same draft, Poles selected defensive tackles Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens in the second and third rounds. Poles also has tried to supplement the position with free agents, including Andrew Billings, Justin Jones and Jarrett.

But adding Simmons is a bigger swing than anything Poles has previously done. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, this was the first time in the common draft era (since 1967) that a team traded multiple first-round picks for a defensive tackle.

It’s the biggest trade package the Bears have sent to another team since they acquired pass rusher Khalil Mack eight days before the 2018 season opener. In that deal, the Bears sent their 2019 and 2020 first-round picks to the Oakland Raiders.

The Bears haven’t gone without a first-round selection since 2022, a pick they traded to the New York Giants on draft night a year earlier to move up and select quarterback Justin Fields.

The Simmons trade leaves the Bears with five selections in the 2027 draft: their own picks in the second, third, sixth and seventh rounds plus the Atlanta Falcons’ fifth-round pick, acquired in the August trade of Dexter.

The deal signals that the Bears are trying to capitalize now on the opportunity in front of them, especially with quarterback Caleb Williams still on his team-friendly rookie contract.

Bears players have the day off Thursday and will return to practice Friday and Saturday. Simmons could make his Bears debut Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field.

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