The Chicago Bears were one of the few teams this week that made a trade, and they were able to acquire Jeffery Simmons from the Tennessee Titans. For a team that has struggled at times to get to the quarterback, getting Simmons should bring a boost to their defensive line.
General manager Ryan Poles has been looking for a game changer for some time, and he believes that can be the difference in becoming a championship team.
“I'm well aware of the impact that those guys have on football teams,” Poles said. “If you do the research, Super Bowl teams, they all have what we call a red level interior defensive lineman, so in order to get that, you need that. I really believe that, so we've been searching. At the draft, when you go best player available, sometimes the draft doesn't provide that to you.
“I know free agency really doesn't do that at that level. It's very hard for guys to get out of the building; they have all of those guys that we're talking about, so we've been searching.”
Article Continues Below#Bears GM Ryan Poles, on trading for Jeffery Simmons, says that going back to 2018, every Super Bowl champion has had a high-level DT—and believes that’s vital for a team that wants to win it all.
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When you look at some of the best teams in the league, they have a strong interior defensive lineman, and they make a huge difference for what defenses are trying to accomplish. Simmons will now have the chance to make that impact for a winning team, and head coach Ben Johnson is excited to see what he can do.
“Jeffrey will have the opportunity to create a positive impact across our team. We look forward to the work ahead,” Johnson said in the same release.
It'll be interesting to see what he's able to do in his debut with the team, and hopefully he can make them real championship contenders.