Jeffery Simmons meant more to the Titans than just production. He was the emotional pulse of the defense, a locker room leader, and for the past few years, the one player who gave Tennessee any real credibility. That’s why the trade package feels big on the surface - and why it could still end up exposing a costly mistake by Titans GM Mike Borgonzi.
Here’s the deal as it stands: the Chicago Bears get Jeffery Simmons and a 2027 fifth-round pick. Tennessee gets a 2027 first-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and a 2028 first-round pick.
On paper, that sounds like a haul. Two first-rounders is the kind of return that can help a rebuilding team stock up fast. But the uncomfortable truth is that not every first-round pick carries the same weight, and Titans fans may be about to learn that the hard way.
The Bears are among the teams with the best odds to win the Super Bowl, which means they should at least be in the playoffs this season. If they make it to the divisional round or beyond, those picks are likely to land in the 25-32 range over the next two years.
That’s where the optimism starts to shrink. Yes, good players can be found there.
Teams can absolutely land impact contributors in the second and third rounds if they draft well. But late first-round picks rarely become the kind of players who anchor a roster.
The last five drafts in that range tell the story.
In 2022, the group included Tyler Linderbaum, Jermaine Johnson, Devin Lloyd, Devonte Wyatt, Cole Strange, George Karlaftis, Dax Hill, and Lewis Cine. There are some good players in that class, but the three who eventually made a Pro Bowl all wound up elsewhere after regime changes made them expendable.
The 2023 group was a mixed bag: Dalton Kincaid, Mazi Smith, Anton Harrison, Myles Murphy, Bryan Bresee, Nolan Smith, and Felix Anudike-Uzomah. Kincaid has been solid, and Harrison has grown into a reliable starter, but the rest have either been cut, slid into role-player status, or simply haven’t been very good.
The 2024 crop has been even less encouraging. Jordan Morgan, Graham Barton, Darius Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Tyler Guyton, Nate Wiggins, Ricky Pearsall, and Xavier Legette make up that class, with Barton standing out as the lone starter who looks like a real building block.
The 2025 class hasn’t offered much early proof either: Jaxson Dart, James Pearce, Malaki Starks, Tyleik Williams, Josh Conerly, Maxwell Hairston, Jihaad Campbell, and Josh Simmons. Simmons has been a train wreck for the Kansas City Chiefs, Pearce has legal issues that could get in the way of his talent, and while Dart has looked the best of the bunch, he also dealt with concussions before a knee injury ended his sophomore season in September.
For 2026, the names to watch are Dillon Thieneman, Keylan Rutledge, Chris Johnson, Caleb Lomu, Peter Woods, Omar Cooper, Keldric Faulk, and Jadarian Price. They’re the players to track the rest of the season as the class takes shape without hindsight doing the work.
Go back even further and the lesson doesn’t really change. Picks in this range usually don’t turn into quality starters, and it’s even rarer for them to become quality starters within their first two seasons.
That doesn’t mean Tennessee won’t get anything useful out of the Simmons trade. It does mean the Titans are banking on draft hits that history says are hard to find. Unless they beat the odds in a big way, those Bears picks may not move the rebuild forward the way fans are hoping.
Right now, this team is headed for an emotional tailspin, and the upcoming bye week may be the only chance to step back and try to forget how badly another season is going.
In Other News...
Titans Suddenly Loom In The Race For A Rising 2027 Quarterback
A recent ESPN poll of 25 NFL scouts and executives has already started reshaping the early 2027 quarterback conversation, and Oklahoma States Drew Mestemaker is now the name drawing the most attention. After an August poll pointed more toward Dante Moore and Arch Manning, the latest look suggests Mestemaker has moved to the front of the pack, a reminder that the draft board is still in its earliest and most fluid stage.
For Tennessee, that matters because the Titans are the kind of team that could be watching this race closely as the season unfolds and the draft picture comes into focus. The article points to possible landing spots based on current team needs and recent trades, but with the order still unsettled and evaluations likely to keep shifting, the Titans are suddenly part of a conversation that could look very different by the time 2027 arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Trade Suddenly Raises An Uncomfortable Question About What They Gave Up
Jeffery Simmons move from Tennessee to Chicago came together fast enough to leave the Titans with a familiar kind of second-guessing hanging over the deal. What made the trade stand out was not just the player involved, but the way it unfolded behind the scenes, with reports saying Giants coach John Harbaugh directly reached out to Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk in an effort to land Simmons even after Tennessee had initially denied it was shopping him.
For the Titans, the bigger issue now is whether the market was fully tested or whether relationships helped shape the outcome more than the usual trade process would suggest. In a league where front offices talk constantly but personal connections still matter, this kind of move can prompt an uncomfortable follow-up question: did Tennessee get the best possible offer for one of its most important assets, or did the timing and the people involved narrow the return before the bidding really opened up? [Read more 🡒]
Calvin Ridley Just Got A Huge Titans Opportunity At A Telling Time
Jeffery Simmons is gone, and the timing could hardly be more awkward for a Titans team heading into Week 8 already dealing with injuries and a thinner margin for error. The move leaves Tennessee short on one of its most important defensive pieces, but it also has ripple effects on the other side of the ball, where Calvin Ridley suddenly finds himself in a much bigger spot than he has had for much of this season.
Ridleys role has faded as the year has gone on, and his future in Tennessee is still very much up in the air with the November 10 trade deadline approaching. For a veteran receiver who has seen limited involvement, the coming stretch could amount to more than just extra snaps, it may be a chance to show enough to shape what comes next. [Read more 🡒]