Acquiring Jeffery Simmons like
'Christmas morning' for the Chicago Bears
[October 31, 2026]
By JAY COHEN
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The trade that sent Jeffery Simmons from
the Tennessee Titans to the Chicago Bears told the All-Pro defensive
tackle everything he needed to know about his new home.
The Bears have big plans.
“This team believes in what they have here, and they want it right
now,” Simmons said. “My game, my passion, my energy, my leadership,
I can only help this team even more than what it’s got.”
That's what Chicago general manager Ryan Poles is counting on after
paying a hefty price for the four-time Pro Bowler. The Bears sent
their first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, along with a
fourth-rounder in next year’s draft, to the Titans on Thursday for
Simmons and a fifth-round selection in 2028.
The addition of Simmons inserts a game-wrecker into the middle of
what had been a questionable defensive line in Chicago.
The 29-year-old Simmons has four sacks in seven games this season.
He topped all defensive tackles with 28 pressures going into Week 8,
according to Next Gen Stats. He has an NFL-high 10 pressures after
facing a double team, compared to 14 for the rest of the Bears
defense combined.
“If you do the research, Super Bowl teams, you go back to 2018,
since then they all have what we call a red-level interior defensive
lineman,” Poles said Friday. “So in order to get to that, you need
one, I really believe that.”
The trade reunites Simmons with fellow defensive lineman Montez
Sweat after the two played together for two seasons at Mississippi
State. Sweat wears No. 98 with Chicago, so Simmons is switching to
No. 99.
Simmons is slated to make his Bears debut Monday night at Seattle.
How much he plays depends on how things go in the runup to the
primetime game.
“At this point, I’m still trying to catch up with the playbook, get
this game plan down, and just trust the process especially with this
first week,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m ready to roll. I’m
ready to get out there and help this team win football games.”
Chicago is 5-2 after winning its first two games since quarterback
Caleb Williams returned from a hamstring injury. It is chasing the
undefeated Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North after winning the
division last year for the first time since 2018.
Tennessee is off to a 1-6 start, and it hasn’t had a winning record
since it went 12-5 in 2021. But Simmons had spent his entire career
with the Titans since being drafted in the first round in 2019.
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Chicago Bears NFL football defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons talks to
the media Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Paul
Beaty)
“It’s been a lot of emotions the last couple days,"
Simmons said. “But today felt great. It felt great to get on the
practice field, move around with the guys. Being back with Montez,
that was my road dawg at Mississippi State. So I’m excited to be
here, I’m excited to be a Chicago Bear.”
The trade created a charged atmosphere at Halas Hall after it was
completed. Poles said the team's headquarters “was on fire” on
Thursday. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said it was “like
waking up on Christmas morning and you go out and you see all the
presents under the tree.”
Offensive coordinator Press Taylor heard clapping down the hall, and
then got a FaceTime call from his brother, Zac, the head coach of
the Cincinnati Bengals. Zac had a “huge smile” on his face, Press
said.
“I’m like, ‘Thank you. We’re excited,’” Press Taylor said as he
looked back on the conversation. “And he’s like, ‘No. We play the
Titans this week.’ Oh, so that makes a lot more sense for why you’re
excited. And he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to go put in a couple more
passes in there.'”
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, Simmons is one of the NFL’s top
interior defensive linemen. He was a first-team All-Pro selection
last year, when he had a career-high 11 sacks in 15 games. He has 46
1/2 sacks, 31 passes defensed, nine forced fumbles and seven fumble
recoveries in 106 career games, including 104 starts.
Poles called Simmons “a multiplier,” with his ability to make life
easier on the players around him. His presence likely will create
more opportunities for the rest of the team's defensive line, and
his pass-rushing skills should help the secondary.
“You’re drawing extra attention. That’s gonna help everybody up
front, really help the whole defense,” defensive tackle Grady
Jarrett said. “You can kind of dictate protection sometimes where
you put people. So I think it’s gonna be super good for just the
whole team.”
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