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By Aman Sharma
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Jeffery Simmons believed he was staying put.
A day later, he was gone.
The Tennessee Titans agreed to send the All-Pro defensive tackle to the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Chicago gives up first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 plus a 2027 fourth-rounder, and it also gets back a 2028 fifth-round selection.
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Asked about trade chatter before the deal came together, Simmons said he wasn’t looking past the present.
“Each and every day I wake up, my goal is to be where my feet are at,” Simmons said.
He also said he’d received no signal that a move was coming.
“I haven’t heard anything from my agent, I haven’t heard anything from this organization. As far as I know, I am going to be here.”
ESPN Research noted that before Simmons, no defensive tackle in the common draft era, which dates to 1967, had been dealt for more than one first-round pick.
It’s also new territory for Bears general manager Ryan Poles, who had never parted with multiple first-rounders in a single trade.
Simmons, 29, earned first-team All-Pro honors last season with a career-high 11 sacks. The four-time Pro Bowl pick has 46.5 sacks, 72 tackles for loss and 96 quarterback hits since Tennessee drafted him No. 19 overall in 2019.
His 27% pass rush win rate leads all NFL defensive tackles in 2026. Chicago’s interior defenders rank 23rd in that category at 13%, per ESPN Analytics and NFL Next Gen Stats.
In June, the Titans gave him a three-year, $105.8 million extension that included $100 million guaranteed and runs through 2030.
Grady Jarrett will be his new partner on the interior, and defensive end Montez Sweat, his teammate at Mississippi State, is waiting too.
Tennessee, 1-6, is left with John Franklin-Myers, Solomon Thomas, Nazir Stackhouse and Jackie Marshall on the interior.
Chicago, now 5-2, visits the Seattle Seahawks next, with the Nov. 10 deadline still ahead for a front office that has already made its loudest call.
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