The trade was reported earlier this morning.
The Tennessee Titans announced it in a statement and at a press conference shortly thereafter.
And now the Chicago Bears have made it official.
The Bears traded a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick, and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Titans for Simmons and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
The Bears issued a statement on their website from general manager Ryan Poles.
“We are excited to welcome Jeffery Simmons and his
family to Chicago. We extend our gratitude to the Tennessee Titans and Mike Borgonzi for their partnership and collaboration throughout this process. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to add a player, and a human, like Jeffery to our team, and we look forward to Jeffery’s leadership and command as we continue to work toward sustained success.”
Head coach Ben Johnson also had a statement.
“Jeffery is one of the most respected players in the National Football League. Jeffery has proven to be one of the most impactful run defenders and disruptive pass-rushers in the NFL, and yet, through his leadership, Jeffery will have the opportunity to create a positive impact across our entire team. We look forward to the work ahead.”
Simmons is in Chicago, and presumably there will be a press conference on Friday. The Bears also have two more practices scheduled (Friday and Saturday), plus a walk-through on Sunday before flying out to Washington for their Monday Night Football game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Chicago GM Ryan Poles has known Tennessee GM Mike Borgonzi since at least 2008, when Poles was a grad assistant at Boston College, and Borgonzi was an assistant recruiting coordinator. They also worked together in the Kansas City Chiefs organization from 2009 to 2021.
“Jeff (Simmons) has been an elite player in this organization both on and off the field,” Borgonzi said via the Titans site. “My respect and admiration for him is probably more than any player I’ve been around. … These are tough decisions, and at no point any time since I’ve been here did we every try to trade Jeffery Simmons – we’ve gotten a lot of phone calls, but it never really crossed my mind.
“I got a phone call late last night from a person I have known for a while, Ryan Poles, GM with the Bears, and he’s really the only person that came out and said: Would you accept this?”
Borgonzi took Poles’ offer to controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk and head coach Robert Saleh, and they decided to accept.
“We thought this was the best decision moving forward, but also, it’s a really hard decision,” Borgonzi said. Amy loves Jeff as a player, as a person. Every teammate in the locker room does. This was not easy, but we felt it was the best decision to really sustain success in the future here and to really build through the draft, and that gave us the opportunity here to really accelerate the process.”
The trade made sense for the 1-6 Titans, who need to rebuild, but it also made sense for the 5-2 Bears, who need an impact defender as they push for the postseason and the Super Bowl.
The most impactful defensive tackle in the game today will now don Navy and Orange.
