Jeffery Simmons is a Bear, and Montez Sweat found out in the most football way possible: with a text message that contained only an eyes emoji. A second message followed telling Sweat that Simmons was on the way, and by the time Sweat left for a workout at Halas Hall later that morning, Ryan Poles had already dealt two first-round picks to the Titans to get him.
That is why the Simmons Bears search matters now. The move gives Chicago one of the game’s most disruptive interior defenders and puts him back beside Sweat, his former Mississippi State teammate, almost three years after the Bears brought Sweat in from Washington. Sweat said he was excited because he knows what Simmons brings to a football team, an organization and a defensive line, and the locker room at Halas Hall reflected it right away: Simmons’ stall went to the left of Sweat’s, with No. 99 next to No. 98.
Simmons spent the past eight years in Tennessee after the 2019 draft, and his arrival in Chicago immediately connected two players whose paths have tracked each other for years. Both were first-round picks in that draft, both played for Mississippi State, and both became forceful edge points for their teams. Sweat transferred to Mississippi State in 2017 after stops at Michigan State and Copiah-Lincoln Community College, while Simmons was entering his second season with the Bulldogs. Together, they piled up 29 sacks and 59.5 tackles for loss between 2017 and 2018, then both earned First-Team All-American honors in 2018.
The trade price is the part that keeps the deal from feeling routine. Chicago paid two first-round picks for Simmons, a steep cost for a player long described as someone who deserves and wants to be on a winning team. Sweat did not sound surprised by that kind of investment. He said he was ready to hand over No. 98 if Simmons wanted it, though Simmons chose No. 99 to start a new chapter instead. On Friday, Sweat spent part of the day helping him settle in, learn how the Bears operate and start getting comfortable with the playbook after Simmons had already spent a few hours at Halas Hall the night before.
For now, the clearest result is simple: Chicago has turned a major draft haul into an immediate defensive pairing. The harder question is how the Bears use Simmons beyond the reunion, because the trade changed the makeup of the roster as much as it changed the mood in the locker room.
