The Tennessee Titans are teetering on abject disaster, and saying they’re only teetering is generous. Three vice presidents were fired last week, and president and CEO Burke Nihill is facing more public scrutiny than he has ever faced (or wanted) for the way this organization is being run.

All of this lands as another NFL trade deadline approaches. Meanwhile, Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is playing out of his mind.

Jeffery Simmons is a top tier pass rusher on a winless team

Simmons ranks fourth in the NFL in pass rush win rate through five weeks. That isn’t fourth among defensive tackles. It’s fourth among EVERYBODY, edge rushers included.

His team is 0-5. Tennessee has been outscored 109-58, and it isn’t getting better.

Here’s the stretch since the 2022 season began: 7-10, 6-11, 3-14, 3-14, and now 0-5. That includes a seven-game losing streak to close the 2022 season. The Titans aren’t far from becoming the worst NFL franchise ever over a four-year stretch, rivaling the 2014-17 Cleveland Browns.

This summer, Simmons became the first defensive tackle in NFL history to get $100 million guaranteed. It was his third contract with Tennessee and his second extension. He has said everything about wanting to stay and turn this thing around. He arrived when the Titans were a playoff team, and he wants to leave them a playoff team again.

I believe Jeff. But man, it’s going to be hard.

So do the Titans finally use their biggest chip to jumpstart anything possible? I went to A to Z Sports’ brand-new NFL trade simulator to find out. Simmons carries a trade value of roughly 2,276 points, and that number climbed between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. It’ll keep climbing if he keeps playing like this.

I kept all four offers to draft capital only. If the Titans trade Simmons, I don’t think they care about bringing in actual bodies. Every deal grades as fair in the simulator, so I’m working up a sliding scale from the most even trade to the biggest Titans advantage.

The most even offer: Las Vegas Raiders

Titans edge: 13 points

The Raiders are a surprising contender, and Simmons would look pretty clean in silver and black. The awkward part? Las Vegas is on the Titans’ schedule after the deadline.

Tennessee gets: 

– 2027 first-round pick (currently projected 13th) 

– 2027 third-round pick (currently in the mid-70s) 

– 2028 third-round pick

This deal brings back the highest first-round pick of the four offers but the least around it.

The NFC North offers: Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions

Bears, Titans edge: 46 points

Chicago is a good football team. The Bears have won with three different starting quarterbacks this season, and I think Ben Johnson is a Coach of the Year candidate. The offense has plenty of firepower. They just need Caleb Williams back, healthy, and effective.

The Bears also came to Nashville for joint practices with the Titans in August. That’s very much a relationship thing in today’s NFL, and it builds familiarity between coaching staffs and front offices. Chicago has a need on the defensive front, and Simmons could push it into a real Super Bowl run.

Tennessee gets: 

– 2027 first-round pick (currently projected 25th) 

– 2027 fourth-round pick 

– 2028 first-round pick

Two firsts and a fourth. Chicago should be a playoff team, so that 2027 pick likely lands in the 20s.

Lions, Titans edge: 61 points

Detroit has the most efficient offense in the NFL, but its defense is atrocious. The Lions need help any way they can get it, and Simmons would do a tremendous amount of good there.

Tennessee gets: 

– 2027 first-round pick (currently projected 22nd) 

– 2027 second-round pick (currently projected 54th) 

– 2028 second-round pick

Let me tie this one to the Titans’ own picks. If Tennessee lands in the top 6, that’s its own first, the Lions’ first, the Lions’ second, the Titans’ own second, and its own third at the very top of the round (somewhere around 65 to 70). That’s five picks inside the top 70.

That’s a pretty good way to jumpstart a rebuild. Having two picks in the 2027 draft gives the Titans flexibility and lets them feel the return on Simmons more on the front end. It’s a lot for Detroit to give up. Then again, if you’ve seen the Lions’ press conferences lately, they might be getting desperate.

The biggest Titans advantage: Cleveland Browns

Cleveland is also on the schedule, but the timing could work. The Titans could play the Browns and then trade Simmons before the deadline.

The Browns just traded away Myles Garrett and are sitting on a ton of draft capital.

Tennessee gets: 

– 2027 first-round pick (via the Los Angeles Rams) 

– 2027 third-round pick 

– 2028 first-round pick

That Rams pick could fall anywhere from playoff range to the very end of the first round. Still, it means two picks inside the top 70 this year and another first next year.

Where would I send Jeffery Simmons?

Look, I still don’t think the Titans trade Jeffery Simmons. Trading him to a team on your schedule after the deadline would be uncomfortable, too. But what are you going to do? Odds are you’ll play him eventually at some point anyway.

If I’m the one pulling the trigger, I like sending him to the NFC North. Yes, the Lions are on the schedule. Two firsts from the Bears versus a first and two seconds from the Lions makes for a fun debate. The Raiders package is easily the worst of the bunch, and I don’t dislike the Browns deal at all.

Either way, Tennessee is walking away with two first-round picks or a first plus a combination of seconds and thirds. That’s a big haul for a defensive tackle playing like a freak of nature on an 0-5 team.

You can check out the A to Z Sports trade simulator yourself, and we’ll see what happens moving forward.