Jeffery Simmons Trade Stuns NFL Fans as Bears Emerge as Major Super Bowl Contender in NFC

With Caleb Williams leveling up once again this season, the Chicago Bears clearly feel a Super Bowl window is open after making the biggest blockbuster of the trade-deadline season so far to acquire Jeffery Simmons from the Tennessee Titans.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter , the Bears will send first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 plus a fourth-rounder in 2027 to the Titans in exchange for Simmons and 2028 fifth-round pick.

Off to a 5-2 start, including 3-1 in games started by Williams, the Bears adding arguably the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL has fans and analysts putting them in the top tier of Super Bowl contenders in the NFC.

In addition to fans and analysts hyping the Bears, people in the NFL are also very positive on the deal.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz quoted an NFC general manager who texted that Chicago's combination of offense with a Simmons-leg defense "makes them a Super Bowl roster for this year and for years to come without a doubt."

Through the first seven weeks of the 2026 season, the Bears are one of four teams that ranks in the top 10 in both points scored and points allowed per game. The other three are the San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Bears have primarily succeeded on defense thanks to a high blitz rate and reliance on turnovers. Their 37.9 percent blitz rate is the eighth-highest in the NFL and they are tied for seventh with 10 takeaways.

Two areas the Bears have struggled is down-to-down consistency and stopping the run. They rank 14th in defensive EPA per play and 19th in EPA per rush, per SumerSports.com .

Simmons is a pass-rushing savant from the interior, which will allow defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to ease up on some of his blitzing tendencies to create pressure from his front four.

The 29-year-old also leads all defensive tackles with 20 run stops in seven starts for the Titans this season.

After fellow NFC contenders in Seattle and San Francisco made moves earlier in the week for Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner, respectively, the Bears responded by making the biggest blockbuster of the season thus far.

It's also plausible that we could see two of those traded players matchup in Week 8 with the Bears playing the Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

Simmons won't have a lot of time to get acclimated to his new defensive system ahead of time, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him get some run as the Bears look to solidify their status as a Super Bowl contender by beating the reigning champs in Seattle.