JUNE 25: Simmons received $60.2MM guaranteed at signing, as detailed by Over the Cap. The immediate cashflow from this extension includes a $20MM signing bonus and $45.8MM which will have been paid out by the end of 2028. Rolling guarantees covering salary and roster bonuses are present for 2027 and ’28, and a $5.5MM option bonus is present for 2027. Simmons’ cap figure dropped to $22.06MM for the coming year, but it is set to reach $31.61MM in 2027 and incrementally increase from that point on. One void year is present in the pact.
JUNE 19: 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 $35.27MM 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 Simmons’ previous Titans deal. Tennessee had given the All-Pro DT a four-year, $94MM extension in April 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 that offseason. 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.
Although the Titans have nosedived since the Robinson-Mike Vrabel years, Simmons has been a defensive linchpin. Last season proved to be his best. The Mississippi State product tallied a career-high 11 sacks, despite playing for a three-win team, and earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time. Twice a second-team All-Pro previously, Simmons has been one of the NFL’s best D-linemen for most of his career.
The Titans have changed defensive schemes this offseason and brought in a host of ex-Jets (John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson, Jacob Martin, Solomon Thomas) and ex-Saleh 49er charge Jordan Elliott. They also drafted D-end Keldric Faulk in the first round. Tennessee will count on Simmons to lead its reshuffled front. His presence has helped the likes of Harold Landry, Arden Key and T’Vondre Sweat in the past. Saleh will hope Simmons can stay on his current path and boost his collection of imports.
Drafted weeks after suffering an ACL tear, Simmons managed to recover in time to make a late-season debut as a rookie. He joined fellow 2019 draftee A.J. Brown in helping the Titans to the AFC championship game. Simmons became a full-time starter in 2020 and broke through with an 8.5-sack 2021 to help Tennessee to the AFC’s No. 1 seed. He punctuated that surge with a three-sack performance in the Titans’ divisional-round loss to the Bengals. Simmons then earned All-Pro acclaim in 2022 and, after a 12-game 2023 season, made another Pro Bowl in 2024.
The Titans kept Simmons out of trade talks at the 2024 deadline, and as teams called to see if the team would be willing to move on after firing HC Brian Callahan, the AFC South club held onto its top defensive asset. Borgonzi referred to Simmons as a core player after refusing to trade him last November, and the second-year GM will stand on that assessment months later.
Simmons and safety Amani Hooker are the only starters left from the Robinson era. The Titans have made a host of decision-making changes since, and they are now rebooting around Saleh. Chad Brinker, who was on board with Carthon when that regime extended Simmons in 2023, left the organization not too long after Borgonzi obtained final say on the team’s 53-man roster. Saleh and Borgonzi have made a host of changes this offseason, spending heavily in free agency and adding two first-round picks.
Because two years remained on Simmons’ previous pact, he will now be contracted through the 2030 season. His $100MM guarantee will certainly not represent what is locked in at signing. That number is not yet known, but given the market increase here, it stands to reason Simmons’ full guarantee will surpass Jones’ position-leading $60MM figure. Other extension-seeking DTs will now have a new ceiling to target, as this marks the fourth NFL position — after quarterback, edge rusher and wide receiver — to reach the $35MM-per-year destination.
