CHICAGO — If you want to say the Chicago Bears have gone all-in on this season with their major swing to acquire All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, no problem.

In weighing the possibility of the blockbuster deal that was finalized Thursday night, general manager Ryan Poles pulled the trigger because he views it as a move that better positions the franchise to compete for a championship — both now and in subsequent seasons.

Simmons fills a position the Bears have tried multiple times to make a strength. Remember, the first big move Poles attempted in free agency was signing defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi in 2022. A failed physical nixed that.

There was a pivot that year to Justin Jones, draft picks used in 2023 on Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens and a free-agency investment in Grady Jarrett in 2025, among other moves. But none of them gave the Bears a player vexing enough to keep opponents up late at night wondering, “How in the world are we going to handle that guy?”

“Jeffery is a guy that we’ve talked about over the last two years,” Poles said Friday at Halas Hall, “just admiring his game and almost dreaming of if we could ever get this guy on our team.”

Some dreams come true.

“It’s like waking up on Christmas morning and you go out and you see all the presents under the tree,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said of his reaction to the first hint the trade might happen. “And so then your mind starts to go, OK, how can we utilize this guy?”

The Bears sent first-round picks in the next two drafts and a 2027 fourth-round selection to the Tennessee Titans for Simmons, 29, and a 2028 fifth-rounder. He practiced with the Bears on Friday and is expected to play Monday night in Seattle as Allen and his assistants work on getting Simmons familiar with the game plan before they dive into teaching him the intricacies of what the Bears do.

The trade immediately strengthens a defense that has had some strong performances and some stinkers during a 5-2 start. Simmons is an elite run defender with interior pass-rushing skills to match any player at his position in the league. And he’s under contract through 2030.

For this trade to be a win, the Bears will require more success than the last time they flipped two first-round picks for a game wrecker. Edge rusher Khalil Mack was a dominant force for the 2018 division champions after arriving via trade a week before the season opener. He was a really good player the next two seasons, and injuries marred his 2021 season. In Mack’s four seasons in Chicago, the Bears appeared in two playoff games, losing both.

Poles has referenced models the team builds for certain players to get a range of what future performance will look like. There are a ton of variables, and while it’s not a crystal ball, the team is confident after performing due diligence that Simmons will age gracefully into his 30s.

If so, the Bears have an elite defensive tackle for at least a few years, something they’ve been longing for.

“I know the ‘all-in’ narrative is there,” Poles said. “We’re all-in … from the moment we started training camp this year, we were all-in. Go talk to Ben (Johnson) right now in his office, and he’s all-in on this week.

“I don’t see it as some move that is going to hurt us long term. Is it going to bring about constraints? One hundred percent. But that’s where we have to have our processes and systems in who we extend, who we pay in free agency, hitting our draft picks. Do you move up? Do you move back? All those factors come into play.

“I feel like we’ve taken the time to really detail this out where it’s something that can help us tremendously early as well as down the road.”

That’s the distinction that will help determine if the trade is a winner in the long run. Saying a team has gone “all-in” implies it’s sacrificing future opportunities for a potential immediate jackpot.

In the near future, the salary-cap puzzle will take on a dimension the Bears haven’t dealt with in a decade. They’ll have to pay quarterback Caleb Williams — and that deal could be eye-opening — thus removing themselves from the world of having a player at the most important position on a rookie deal. That’s where they’ve been with Williams and his predecessors, Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky.

That will put the organization in a space where it will need to be selective in free agency and make tough calls on some of its own players as contracts expire. Having fewer high-round draft picks will make it more challenging to stock the depth chart with quality talent on cost-controlled deals. There will be a host of needs on defense after this season.

It’s a problem the Bears were willing to take on because draft picks, even first-rounders, aren’t sure things. Some are lottery tickets that, after scratched, wind up in the waste basket. Simmons is a known quantity.

“One thing I want to hit, like I know it’s kind of a joke that goes around, but ‘F them picks’ is like a big thing,” Poles said.

“F them picks” originated in February 2022, when Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead wore a shirt to the team’s Super Bowl parade that featured a photo of himself with the words “F−−− them picks” across his face.

Snead, a veteran wheeler-dealer, was poking fun at those who questioned his strategy to trade a combined four first-round picks for quarterback Matthew Stafford and cornerback Jalen Ramsey, as well as other bold moves. The Rams — who also have drafted very well under Snead — were more than happy to flip picks for proven commodities. It should be noted Snead has backtracked on that a little since, but he has remained highly aggressive in the trade market.

“That’s really not what we’re about,” Poles said. “I know it took a lot to get this done, but we absolutely believe that the draft and bringing in young talent is the way that you sustain success around here.

“I’m challenging myself and our crew that, for the picks that we do have, we have to hit. We have to be great with our undrafted free agent process. And whatever tier of free agency we’re working in, which we’ll have constraints, we’ve got to hit there too.”

Those are issues for February, March and beyond. The Bears have a difference maker, something they’ve lacked on defense, and there’s energy throughout the building.

“I am proud of our thorough forecasting,” Poles said. “We really look at what does ’27, ’28, ’29, ’30 look like and how does this move impact us moving forward. Because we always go back to: Can we sustain success? Can we sustain being a championship-caliber team, or does this take us out of it?”

The Bears believe they’ll be in it for a while.

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