Pro Football Rumors
Robert Saleh has brought in a host of former Jets defensive linemen in his first offseason as Titans HC, but the second-chance leader will count on holdover Jeffery Simmons as his D-line anchor. Simmons now has the contract to reflect that status.
The Titans and Simmons agreed on a three-year extension Friday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo report. Simmons’ third NFL contract is worth $105.8MM and will bring $100MM guaranteed. At more than $35MM per year, Simmons smashes the previous D-tackle AAV record. The Titans have since announced the extension.
Chris Jones previously stood as the NFL’s highest-paid interior D-lineman, agreeing to a five-year Chiefs deal (worth $158.75MM) just before the 2024 free agency period. Jones’ AAV ($31.75MM) eclipsed Aaron Donald‘s number, and after the legendary Ram’s retirement, no other DT was tied to a deal north of $29MM per year. Simmons’ pact changed that, and the thaw on this market will probably be felt outside of Nashville in the near future as well.
Kansas City gave Jones $95MM in total guarantees; no other D-tackle entered Friday north of $76MM. Simmons, 28, becomes the first interior D-lineman to receive $100MM guaranteed. He is the seventh defender to sign for nine figures guaranteed, joining edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson, Micah Parsons, Will Anderson Jr., Myles Garrett, Nick Bosa and T.J. Watt. Simmons’ guarantee number checks in seventh among that crop, but it breaks a key barrier on the defensive tackle market.
Two seasons remained on Jones’ previous Titans deal. Tennessee had given the All-Pro DT a four-year, $94MM extension in 2023. That offseason established a second tier between Donald and the field at D-tackle, with Simmons joining Dexter Lawrence, Daron Payne and Quinnen Williams in signing an extension that landed between $22-$24MM per annum. Nnamdi Madubuike, Milton Williams and Zach Allen landed deals between Donald and the Lawrence-Payne-Simmons-Quinnen Williams tier. (Christian Wilkins did as well, but the Raiders cut him barely a year after authorizing the contract.)
Simmons has rewarded the Titans for their 2019 first-round investment. The Jon Robinson GM era featured considerable success but some first-round misses. Simmons was Robinson’s top first-round hit, and he has now signed contracts with three GMs. Ran Carthon extended Simmons months after Robinson’s ouster, and Mike Borgonzi signed off on the Friday payday. Borgonzi and Saleh inherited Simmons, and a D-line full of ex-Saleh cogs will still revolve around Simmons’ talents.
More to come.
