Jeffery Simmons' Bears debut: a sack, a game ball and a Seattle offense stuck on third down

Jeffery Simmons had practiced twice with the Bears when he took the field in Seattle on Monday night. He played 48 of the defense's 56 snaps anyway, and finished Chicago's 34-17 win with a sack, six tackles, three of them for loss, a batted pass and a game ball, ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported.

The numbers Cronin pulled from Next Gen Stats show how much one interior lineman moved the game. On the 48 plays Simmons was on the field, Seattle gained 3.0 yards a play and took all three sacks and the interception. On the eight plays he sat, the Seahawks averaged 13.3 yards, and Sam Darnold went 5 for 5 with a touchdown. Seattle converted one of 11 third downs.

What he freed up

The Bears' standard four-man rush had struggled to get home since Dennis Allen became defensive coordinator in 2025, producing one of the league's lowest pressure rates. Against Seattle, Allen blitzed less and let the front win on its own. Simmons drew 13 double teams, the only Bears lineman in double figures, and that left one-on-ones for others. Montez Sweat, his college teammate at Mississippi State, had a sack, two quarterback hits and three tackles for loss in his first game back from a two-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing substances policy.

Simmons said he had urged the line during the game to win without help. "We don't need a blitz," he told reporters, by Cronin's account, arguing that winning up front would make the secondary's job easier.

What it cost

Chicago got Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick from Tennessee on Oct. 29 for its first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 and a 2027 fourth-rounder, ESPN reported. ESPN Research said he is the first defensive tackle since 1967 to be traded for more than one first-round pick. He is 29, was a first-team All-Pro last season with a career-high 11 sacks, had four sacks for the 1-6 Titans this year, and is signed through 2030 after an extension worth $105.8 million that he agreed to before the season.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles called his former Kansas City colleague, Titans GM Mike Borgonzi, with the offer, and the two sides modeled it on the Myles Garrett trade, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. According to Schefter, Chicago studied every Super Bowl champion since 2018, found an elite defensive tackle on each, and decided that was worth three premium picks.

Not everyone agrees on the price. In ESPN's deadline grades on Friday, Ben Solak and Seth Walder gave the Titans an A and the Bears a C, calling Simmons the best defensive tackle in the league but arguing that two late first-round picks are worth more than the savings on his contract, which pays $27 million in 2027 and $29.8 million in 2028. Their point was that the deal raises Chicago's Super Bowl chances this season and perhaps next, at a likely cost to the years after.

The market moved too. DraftKings had Simmons at 25-1 for Defensive Player of the Year before the game and 10-1 after it, fourth in the field, Cronin reported.

Next

Simmons gets his first game at Soldier Field on Sunday night against Tampa Bay (3-5), whose ground game leads the NFL at 168.6 yards a game, against an interior line that now also has to cover for Kentavius Street, who is likely done for the season with a knee injury. Grady Jarrett (groin) practiced fully on Friday and carries no injury designation. The trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10. Prices for Sunday are on the game page, and the schedule is on the team page.