The Tennessee Titans have reportedly agreed to trade star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons to the Chicago Bears, just one day after Simmons told reporters he expected to stay in Tennessee. Multiple NFL insiders reported the deal on Thursday morning, October 29, 2026, with Chicago sending two first-round draft picks and a fourth-round pick to Tennessee.
What we know / What we don’t know
What we know:
- Multiple outlets reported on Thursday morning, October 29, 2026, that the Titans have agreed to trade Simmons to the Bears.
- The reported terms, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NBC Sports, are: Chicago receives Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick; Tennessee receives first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 plus a fourth-round pick in 2027.
- The report was first carried by Tom Pelissero of The Ringer, according to theScore, which published its report at 10:26 a.m. ET on October 29.
- Simmons, 29, is a four-time Pro Bowler who was named an Associated Press first-team All-Pro for the first time last season.
- On Wednesday, October 28, Simmons told reporters he had heard nothing from his agent or the Titans about a trade and said, “As far as I know, I’m going to be here.”
- The NFL trade deadline is November 10, 2026, at 3 p.m. CT, according to The Tennessean.
- The Titans are 1-6 this season, while the Bears’ defense ranks No. 8 in yards allowed and No. 9 in points allowed, according to NBC Sports.
What we don’t know:
- The deal is reported as agreed, not yet announced by either team in the reports we verified. Team announcements, physicals, and league processing are the usual final steps, and none of those had been reported as complete at the time of writing.
- One outlet, Windy City Gridiron, listed the pick going to Chicago as a 2027 fifth-round pick rather than a 2028 fifth-round pick. The NBC Sports and Schefter versions both say 2028, which is what this article uses, but readers should treat that one pick year as unconfirmed until the teams announce the terms.
- Whether Simmons will play in the Bears’ next game, against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday, November 2, at Lumen Field. As of Thursday morning, his availability for that game had not been confirmed, according to Heavy.com.
- What the Titans plan to do with the draft picks, and who will replace Simmons in Tennessee’s starting lineup.
The reported deal
The news broke fast on Thursday morning. TheScore published its report at 10:26 a.m. ET, citing Pelissero, and NBC Sports followed at 10:34 a.m. ET with the full reported terms. Schefter then posted the same terms on social media: the Bears get Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick, and the Titans get first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 along with a fourth-round pick in 2027.
That is a very large price for a defensive tackle, and it tells you how both teams see themselves right now. Chicago is buying for a playoff run. Tennessee is selling for the future.
One day earlier, Simmons said he was staying
What makes this trade so surprising is what Simmons said less than 24 hours before it was reported.
Speaking to reporters before practice on Wednesday, October 28, Simmons said any trade rumors involving him were not true, and that he had heard nothing from his agent or the team. “As far as I know, I’m going to be here,” he said, according to The Tennessean. He also framed the choice in personal terms, saying he could be the type of player who asks out, or the type who stays and uses his leadership to help turn things around. NBC Sports repeated the same quotes on Thursday morning.
None of that means Simmons was misleading anyone. Trade talks often move in hours, and a player can honestly know nothing on Wednesday and be traded on Thursday. It does show how quickly the deadline market can change, and why even a firm-sounding denial is not a guarantee.
Who Jeffery Simmons is
Simmons was the No. 19 overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft, and he has spent his whole career with the Titans. He is a four-time Pro Bowler and was a first-team All-Pro last season after a career-high 11 sacks, with 17 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback hits, according to NBC Sports. Across his career, he has 46.5 sacks, 72 tackles for loss, and 96 quarterback hits.
This season, in seven games, he has 38 tackles, four sacks, six tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits, according to NBC Sports. Bleacher Report’s numbers match: 38 tackles, six for loss, four sacks, nine quarterback hits, four passes defensed, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
That kind of production from the inside of the defensive line is rare: a tackle who can push the pocket up the middle changes everything for an offense, and that is why contenders pay so much for this position.
Simmons signed a three-year, $105.8 million contract extension with Tennessee in June 2026, according to NBC Sports. The Tennessean put the figure at up to $105.9 million. Either way, Chicago is taking on a very large contract, which makes the draft-pick price even more striking: the Bears are paying premium picks and premium money because they believe Simmons can help them win now.
Why the Bears are going all in
The Bears’ side of this trade is easy to understand. They are built to win this season. Quarterback Caleb Williams is healthy and playing at a high level, according to NBC Sports, and the defense is already a top-10 unit. A player like Simmons does not just add sacks; he makes every other defender better by drawing double teams and collapsing the pocket from the inside.
The timing matters too. The Bears play the Seattle Seahawks on Monday, November 2, at Lumen Field, according to Heavy.com. Whether Simmons can suit up that quickly depends on the physical, the paperwork, and how fast he can learn the defense, and none of that had been confirmed as of Thursday morning. Even if he does not play on Monday, the Bears have the rest of the season and the playoffs in mind, not one game.
Chicago also moved before the market could move past it. Earlier in the week, the San Francisco 49ers traded for Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner for a 2027 fourth-round pick, according to Niners Nation. The Bears had reportedly been looking for a defensive tackle too, and after the 49ers kicked off the market, Chicago made the much bigger splash. Niners Nation also noted that the Bears entered Thursday with the eighth-best Super Bowl odds, and that those odds were sure to change after the Simmons news.
Why the Titans are selling
The Titans’ side is harder for fans to accept but easy to explain. Tennessee is 1-6, and the season is slipping away. Simmons is 29, on a huge contract, and at peak trade value. Keeping him would mean paying top money to a star on a team that is going nowhere this year, and hoping he is still at his best when the rebuild is done.
Trading him now brings back two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick, plus the chance to reshape the roster. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper had ranked Simmons first on his trade-deadline big board, according to Yardbarker, and named the Bears, 49ers, Raiders, and Giants as the best fits. That kind of demand is exactly when a selling team should listen.
For Tennessee, the hard part comes next. Veteran Solomon Thomas and rookie Jackie Marshall are potential replacements, according to Steelers Depot, but neither is Simmons. The Titans will have to use those draft picks well, or this trade will be remembered as the day they gave away their best player for picks that never turned into stars.
What happens next
First, watch for the official announcements. The teams will confirm the trade and its exact terms, which will settle the one open question about whether the pick going to Chicago is a 2027 or 2028 fifth-round pick. The physical and league filing usually follow quickly for a deal reported this far along.
Second, watch Monday night. If Simmons is cleared and ready, his Bears debut could come against Seattle on November 2. If not, his debut will come the following week, and the Bears will have time to work him into Dennis Allen’s defense.
Third, watch the rest of the deadline. The trade window closes on November 10 at 3 p.m. CT. Simmons was the biggest name on the market, and his trade sets the price for every other deal. Teams that missed out on him may now turn to the next options, and teams that were waiting to see what Simmons fetched now know what a star costs.
For Bears fans, this is the kind of trade that defines a season: two first-round picks is a lot, but Super Bowl windows do not stay open forever. For Titans fans, it is the opposite kind of moment: the day the rebuild became official. The next few weeks will show which team read the moment right.
It has been a busy week for NFL headlines — see also how Saquon Barkley sold his Polymarket stake after the NFL ban, and our coverage of the Brewers’ first World Series title.
This is a developing story. The trade is reported as agreed by multiple outlets; this article will be updated when the teams officially announce it.
Sources
- NBC Sports (ProFootballTalk), “Titans agree to trade Jeffery Simmons to Bears,” October 29, 2026 — nbcsports.com
- theScore, “Report: Titans trade Simmons to Bears for pair of 1st-round picks,” October 29, 2026 — thescore.com
- Bleacher Report, “Jeffery Simmons Responds to NFL Trade Rumors in Video, Talks Titans Future Ahead of Deadline” — bleacherreport.com
- The Tennessean, “Tennessee Titans DT Jeffery Simmons shoots down trade rumors,” October 28, 2026 — tennessean.com
- NBC Sports, “Jeffery Simmons: As far as I know, I’ll be here after trade deadline,” October 29, 2026 — nbcsports.com
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