The Tennessee Titans’ offseason has (mostly) been a success, as they have brought back Harold Landry, given Ryan Tannehill two more reliable weapons in Austin Hooper and Robert Woods, and drafted well.
But all of that work has been largely overshadowed by the A.J. Brown trade that absolutely devastated the team and their fans.
Head coach Mike Vrabel’s immediate reaction to the trade was a perfect description of how all of us were feeling that night.
What is scary for the Titans is that if they are not careful, they could have another similar situation on their hands within the next year. Jeffery Simmons is still on his rookie contract and is surely going to get paid a lot of money on his next one.
His fifth-year option has been picked up by the Titans, locking him in for the next two years. Most people know that you can’t extend a player on a rookie contract until after their third season, so the window is just opening on a possible extension.
Still, things move fast in the NFL and Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson has to make an extension for Simmons a priority over the next two offseasons.
The time is now for the Tennessee Titans to pay Jeffery Simmons
Anyone who has paid attention to the NFL market knows that it is an ever-evolving one, and each change makes it more and more difficult to predict what will happen next.
That is evident based on the fact that the Los Angeles Rams just paid Aaron Donald a record-setting contract extension just the other day. And by “record-setting,” we mean that a new one will be broken within the next two years because that is just how the market works in a league like the NFL.
It is a very real possibility that the one who breaks that “record” is Simmons himself. At just 24 years of age and only having three years of NFL experience under his belt — really not even three since he was rehabbing a torn ACL to start his rookie year — he is already a proven stud and one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL.
He has gotten better each year he has been in the league, and that was evident last year as his pass-rushing skills took a huge step forward. It is very likely that he has not reached his ceiling yet, and will surely be motivated to work even harder now that he is seeing what his peers such as Donald are earning on their contracts.
If you are Robinson and the Titans, you must take note of this and do everything you can to extend Simmons before the start of the season. If they thought the AJ Brown trade hurt big time, let it be assured that losing Simmons would hurt even worse for them.
He is a captain on the defense and a trusted leader, plays a more valuable position than Brown, and right now, you could make a case that he is the very best player on the Titans. He is, at the very least, the most untouchable player on the roster as things currently stand.
Remember how the Tennessee Titans fielded one of the best defenses in the NFL that was rooted in their havoc-wreaking front four? Well losing Simmons changes everything, not just with the team on paper, but how opposing offenses will game plan to contain them.
It is a guarantee that Harold Landry, Bud Dupree, and Denico Autry are not the same players if Simmons is not on the field.
Now the reason Simmons might not be pushing for a new deal yet is that he wants to hold out for more money at the end of next year, which is very understandable since he might be a better player and worth more when that time comes.
However, if the Tennessee Titans see his stock rising next year, then they should be pushing for a new deal now to avoid paying him even more next offseason. After all, it is tough to believe that someone as valuable as Simmons is to the Titans could be “overpaid.”
One of the primary objectives for them going into the offseason was paying three of their top franchise cornerstones, and while they locked up one of them, they, unfortunately, missed on the other. They absolutely cannot afford to miss on another one, just pay Simmons now and get it over with, he is clearly worth it and more.