Simmons has experienced a 10-46 record over his last 56 games. In only two of those games did his offense score 30 or more points. In 37 of those games, his offense scored fewer than 20.

2022 was his last playoff game, had 3 sacks, 3 TFL, and 8 tackles, and the Titans lost 19-16.

Not trying to cope about the picks because thats all they are but the Bears already have two extra 1st rounders from the last 3 draft classes, Odunze was the extra pick in 2024 and Burden is ultimately an extra one from 2025, so those picks are already on the roster.

50 minutes ago, adam said:

Bears now with the #1 and #18 DTs in PRWR.

Grady is also #2 in Run Stop Win Rate.

What I love about this is Grady had been playing more snaps than he should at his age. Also, Simmons will free him up by taking all of the double teams. This could be a multiplying effect for our front four.

1 hour ago, adam said:

Secondary effect? Simmons played two years with Sweat as MSU. Maybe that will motivate Sweat a little bit?

Cool. I appreciate those side stories.

Question now is, who will wear 98?

6 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

What I love about this is Grady had been playing more snaps than he should at his age. Also, Simmons will free him up by taking all of the double teams. This could be a multiplying effect for our front four.

This will have a ripple effect across the entire defense. It is getting a more disruptive All Pro level Akiem Hicks, cost controlled for 4 years.

1 minute ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Cool. I appreciate those side stories.

Question now is, who will wear 98?

He wore 96 at MSU, but van den Berg has that. 99 would be cool. 98+1.

I wonder who loses their roster spot due to the addition of Simmons. Might need to free up a little cap too create flexibility

DE Jeremiah Kromah cut, they also signed Josh Butler CB to practice squad

Love this move by Poles. It's definitely an overpay, but a smart overpay. I will never fault a GM for being aggressive for the right guy. It's one thing when you overpay for Chase Claypool, but Simmons has been the best defensive tackle in the NFL for the last two years. He is a complete game changer. He's basically first or top 3 in virtually every advanced category for his position, and keep in mind, he did all this playing for the Titans, who never have leads. Imagine how much better with an offense that can score?

He's also on a very nice cost controlled contract for the next 3 years. I think there's a team option that perfectly lines up with Caleb's contract extension kicking in, so there's not a huge financial burden.

Hats off to Poles. I'm beyond excited. No reason to stop now, though. If they could go out and get Khalil Mack and/or another corner, that would be the icing on the cake. LFG!

6 hours ago, Lucky Luciano said:

INCREDIBLY STUPID. there is no possible way any 29 year old DT is worth anywhere close to what we paid. 2 firsts relates to a good/great starting QB in his prime or a DE future hall of fame player in his prime.

this screws us in so many ways in our future it's mindboggling.

ryan poles has done NOTHING but hurt this franchise. he can't draft. look at the busts or average players we have picked in the 1st-3rd round. his free agent acquisitions on defense are dismal at the VERY best. we are paying for injured average players. on offense he has brought in three good offensive linemen and one that wanted to retire and did after one season. one is at or past retirement age also in thuney. and now this...

ryan poles needs to be FIRED. this is no knee jerk statement, this guy is killing this franchise.

I remember when we added Peppers and thought wow that was expensive. Then after he played a few games for us and I watched film I realized how much he controlled his side of the field. Literally. It made everyone else’s job on defense easier

Then we traded for Mack and it was expensive too. I watched the film and realized how much he controlled his side of the field. The only problem with the Mack trade is that we didn’t have the offense we thought we had.

This time we know we have the QB and the rest of the offense. Simmons can absolutely control his part of the field. This is a DT who commands a double team and can still win the play. Plus you can’t really double him briefly and then go up to block a LB as we like to do. So that right there means a free LB on every running play. Then there is pass rush because you have to double him t there too. That opens a gap in the interior for a blitz. Effectively where we used to need to rush 6 to get a free gap we can now get that with 5. Which puts one more player into coverage.

For the last two years I’ve wanted the Bears to trade for Simmons, among others. Last year he got into his contract year and it was going to be expensive as in two 1st Rd picks and then we’d have to sign him to a huge contract. Poles says I have a plan…. we’ll let Tenn pay him the big bonus then swoop in during middle of their bad season and give them two 1st Rd picks for Simmons. They’ll be happy to have them needing to rebuild and we’ll get our man for our playoff run without paying the bonus money, and have cap flexibility in future years on his contract if we need it. George Halas smiles from above.

18 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

For the last two years I’ve wanted the Bears to trade for Simmons, among others. Last year he got into his contract year and it was going to be expensive as in two 1st Rd picks and then we’d have to sign him to a huge contract. Poles says I have a plan…. we’ll let Tenn pay him the big bonus then swoop in during middle of their bad season and give them two 1st Rd picks for Simmons. They’ll be happy to have them needing to rebuild and we’ll get our man for our playoff run without paying the bonus money, and have cap flexibility in future years on his contract if we need it. George Halas smiles from above.

I almost wonder if that was part of his plan. We expected him to make a splash in FA and draft last offseason. He signed a bunch of average DTs that better fit the scheme but left pundits scratching as to why no edge or stud DT.

It worked out pretty good. He did push for Buckner but landed Simmons, who is a bigger prize once he seen the team is looking good to contend.

The backfield with Bryant, Thienemen, Gordon, and Bush at LB will be something else. DA will be able to elevate his scheme to BJ level.

So you want Quenton Nelson to protect your QB and help your run game? Here’s the antidote and this is from a game on 18 October. Credit to the Football Scout because he’s not just showing the highlight plays he reviews many plays that never hit the stat sheet.

Now we have some fun with our upcoming opponent..and a decent breakdown of just a few plays.

Love it!!! So fired up

Sounds like he is practicing today. Still doesn't feel real.

does anyone here really believe we were ONE player away from being a dynasty??

some have asked if we win a superbowl whether that trade was good and we break our arms patting poles on the back. i am not one of them. i want to win multiple superbowls. that is the goal this franchise should always take.

poles is in desperate mode right now. most of his draft picks are failures. his free agents have on the most part been failures. his job is on the line as he sees it. he is GOING FOR BROKE and taking us with him. this was not the time for a rebuilt team on the rise to do this.

getting on with it, this was a very stupid move by a 2nd rate GM. why you ask....

1. immediate future: it's not even a given that we can even win our OWN division this year. so much for penciling in a SB win this year and amazingly next year also? a hundred different scenario's could occur that we don't even MAKE it to the NFC championship game let alone the freaking superbowl.

2. everyone is assuming that we are picking at 31 or 32 for our 2027-2028 first round picks and that justifies it. what happens if an injury happens? didn't we learn anything when caleb went down? does anyone possibly believe if he would have been out for the season even with an all pro DT that we would have won a superbowl? we literally could have drafted in the top 10-15. we are HOPING for a perfect scenario where all of our players stay healthy and improve from what they are but you do NOT gamble your franchises future on this.

3. what this means is that we have NO top pick for THREE YEARS. lets look at our defensive side of the ball first.

   we need not one, but two CB's. what we have is not even close to being average. i don't care how good your defensive line is if not one of your corners can cover it's a disaster in the making.

   we virtually have 2 DE's that are average on their best day. they not only can't get to the QB but they can't contain the ends on running plays or pressure the QB on scrambles. that's a top tier position that no way in hell we can trade for now or reasonably draft without first round picks.

   LB's... does anyone believe as a group they are even average? the best average one we have is constantly injured? so where does that leave us? that is three open positions (two at the least) that needs to be filled.

   DT's... other than this new pickup our DT's are basically pie in the sky. if our new acquisition gets injured do we even have an average DT on this team?

   S.. again, we have a great 'prospect' in the thin man. our other safety is coming off a serious injury. does he lose speed or end up like JJ? probably not but there is that possibility. i will concede that this position is solid with reservations.

   so at best, our defense is lacking at least 6-7 players that you will not get a chance to draft highly over the next 2 years. that means we are solid at 1-2 positions on our entire defense. that is not a superbowl winning combo in my book.

4. offense... looks solid? it is at this point in time. but in our future we are going to need a LG and possibly a LT. ozzie has great potential but nothing involving him is set in stone. if we need a LT that is highly unlikely to happen without a first round pick. so that would negate/limit our QB advantage, our running game and possibly get our QB injured.

so yea, i am not raking this player over the coals. i think he is a very good player and will help this franchise. but to what extent? we just gambled the next 5-10 years on this move. so yea, poles needs to be fired for even putting us into the position to have to give up this much for a single player at this point in time.

For you, Grizz...

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