TITANS AGREE MASSIVE FOUR-YEAR, $94 MILLION EXTENSION WITH PRO BOWL DT JEFFREY SIMMONS
The Tennessee Titans and two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman, Jeffrey Simmons have agreed in principle to a massive four-year, $94 million extension.
Simmons, 25, is set to earn $23.5 million in annual pay based on the new money, making him the second-highest paid defensive tackle in the league, trailing only Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald, who earns over $31 million a year.
The new extension was negotiated by Paul Derousselle of C2 Sports, and is the first massive contract extension of the young agent’s career. Derousselle also represents Carolina Panthers wide receiver, DJ Chark. Simmons’ deal was first reported by ESPN’s Turron Davenport, confirming that both the Titans and Simmons have been working on a long-term deal for some time.
The deal includes up to $66 million in guaranteed money, over 70% of the contract in guarantees, and includes a $24 million signing bonus. In all, the 2019 first-round draft pick is under contract for $104.75 million over the next five years, including his fifth-year option. The Titans picked up Simmons’ option for $10.75 million on April 27th last year.
One of General Manager Ran Carthon’s major goals as new GM was to lock down one of the team’s best pieces on defense. Simmons was excited by the new deal and posted a video montage on Twitter after saying, “We are not done yet! Let’s go! We have so much work to do!”
The four-year extension appears to be back-loaded and gives some much-needed space under the salary cap going forward. Tennessee currently ranks 23rd in the league with $7.4 million of available cap space, according to Spotrac.com.
Standing 6-foot-4, 305 lbs., Simmons is one of the league’s best young defenders. The former Ole Miss defensive lineman has started 54 of the 56 games he’s played in the league. Simmons has registered 21 sacks in his career and put up 7.5 sacks last year, following a 2021 season in which he recorded a career-high 8.5 sacks.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Louisiana-born defender has generated a total of 16 sacks, 30 quarterback hits, 67 solo tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 13 passes defensed, and 115 total pressures over the past two seasons.
The extension means the Titans retain one of the organization’s top players for the next few years and keep him happy. In that department, General Manager Ran Carthon is a success story so far. Carthon was hired by Tennessee in January, replacing former general manager Jon Robinson who was fired on December 6th 2022.
The Titans used more players in each of the past two seasons than any other team in the NFL under Robinson. The former GM was also unable to agree on a new contract with superstar wide receiver AJ Brown last year and ended up trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
With Simmons’ deal taken care of, Carthon will now have to decide what to do with the contract situations of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has a cap hit of $36.6 million in 2023, and three-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry, whose cap hit is $16.4 million this year. Both players are in the final year of their contracts and cover an incredible 60% of the Titans’ offensive cap. The league average for QB1 and RB1 cap is 19%, with no other team being above 39% in 2023, according to football analyst Warren Sharp.
The Titans have, this offseason, released C Ben Jones, WR Robert Woods, LB Zach Cunningham, K Randy Bullock. With Carthon showing he isn’t afraid to release veteran players from the roster, expect Tennessee to continue to make moves this offseason. The Titans have 6 picks in this year’s draft and pick at 11th overall in the first round.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: TENNESSEE TITANS. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.