Mike Vrabel’s Titans ties could give the Patriots a long-shot path to Jeffery Simmons, but the price tag may make that road a dead end.
With the 2026 NFL trade deadline set for November 10, the Patriots are being floated as a team that could still make a splash even with very little cap space to work with. They may not have the room for a major addition as things stand, but they can create cash if needed, and this is the kind of roster that could force their hand.
The need is pretty obvious up front. New England’s season looks back on track despite a Week 7 loss to the Bears, but the roster still has holes, especially in the pass rush. Harold Landry’s 2026 future is unsettled, and Gabe Jacas and Elijah Ponder have not been consistent enough to settle the issue.
That has opened the door to talk about a huge swing for Simmons, one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive tackles. The link, of course, is Vrabel. He drafted the 29-year-old in his second year as Titans head coach, and even after Vrabel was fired three years ago, Simmons has continued to speak highly of him and has even hinted that he’d like to play for him again.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer pointed to that connection while discussing possible blockbuster moves the Patriots could chase before the deadline.
"The Titans are another team. Mike Vrabel loves Jeffery Simmons. Is that your pie-in-the-sky type of swing?"
That would be putting it mildly.
Tennessee has not shown any interest in moving the four-time Pro Bowler. In fact, the Titans gave Simmons a three-year, $105.8 million extension this past summer, which doesn’t make him untouchable but does make it clear they value him highly. If he were ever to move, it would take an offer that seriously changes their mind.
And that’s where the conversation gets tricky for New England. The Patriots might be open to making that kind of aggressive offer because of Vrabel’s connection to Simmons, but the likely asking price could stop the idea cold. Tennessee would almost certainly want a premium draft pick, probably a first-rounder, and the Patriots are unlikely to part with one.
They already sent a 2028 first-round pick to the Eagles for A.J. Brown, and it’s believed that decision was made because the 2027 draft class is already highly regarded.
All of that makes a Simmons trade feel even more remote, even if the fit makes sense on paper. New England needs more juice on the defensive line, and that became even clearer after Christian Barmore and Milton Williams failed to make the same kind of impact they did last year in their recent outing.
If Simmons were somehow added, the Patriots’ front would look completely different. But whether Vrabel is willing to empty the chest for him, pivot to another target, or wait until next year’s free agency remains to be seen.
With the trade deadline less than three weeks away, the answer won’t take long to arrive.
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National deadline chatter has not featured the Patriots as a clear fit either as buyers or as a source of available players, which is part of what makes this stretch feel so uneventful from the outside. It has the makings of another quiet deadline in Foxborough, where the need for reinforcements is obvious but the path to getting them seems far less so. [Read more 🡒]