The Tennessee Titans trading star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons to the Chicago Bears is still sending waves through every layer of the organization. That includes the fan base and, more importantly for the rest of the season, the Titans locker room. Tennessee has a date with the Cincinnati Bengals coming up, one of its final 10 games and the last stop before the bye week.

Former Titans general manager Ran Carthon knows Simmons as well as anyone. Carthon was the first GM to give Simmons a contract extension in Nashville a few years ago. Now an analyst for CBS Sports, he reacted to the trade on air and laid out what the deal could mean inside the building.

“I’m sure right now, especially if you’re in the building, if you’re in the Titans building over there off of Rosa Parks Boulevard, the building’s probably quiet. It’s probably completely in shock,” Carthon said. “Now if you’re Robert Saleh, you have to find a way to galvanize the troops because this is sending shockwaves through the locker room. I’m sure it’s pretty quiet. Jeff was the face of the franchise. He was the emotional leader. He was the vocal leader.” 

“Now you have to (galvanize) that locker room and show them that they still have something to play for. Because I’m pretty sure right now, trading away Big Jeff, those players feel like the season’s over. Feels like the season’s over.”

Can the Titans locker room rally after losing Jeffery Simmons?

I honestly can’t disagree with Carthon there.

Simmons was the machine that drove everything. He had been a part of this franchise since Tennessee made him a first-round pick in 2019, and he had just signed his second contract extension. John Franklin-Myers was brought in to be a wrecking crew next to him. Without Simmons, I don’t know what to expect from the defense, or from the overall mentality of this team.

So how do you rally? Can the locker room rally behind Cam Ward? Who fills the leadership void?

It’s not the same thing, but a close analogy is a team firing its head coach in the middle of the season. There’s usually a little bit of an interim coach boost for a temporary period of time. Is there a Jeffery Simmons trade version of that? A stretch where guys find a different level of locked-in focus?

You have to imagine a lot of those players are looking at themselves in the mirror. If I had played better, if I had made this play and not missed that one, would Simmons still be here? Would the record be different? Would the signs of progress be strong enough that this franchise wanted to keep the face of the franchise?

What Titans fans get out of the Jeffery Simmons trade

Carthon did the interview with Emily Proud for CBS Sports. Proud covered the Titans for the 2018-2021 seasons at WKRN News 2 in Nashville, Simmons included, and she took the conversation to the next level.

“I was there when Jeff was drafted in 2019. He actually was visibly crying during that press conference with the owner, Amy Adams Strunk, there with him. You mentioned this being just the face of the franchise. So if you’re having to talk to Titans fans out there and rationalize this and make sense of this, how excited should they be about the draft picks that they recoup in this big trade?” Proud asked.

Carthon’s answer:

“The Titans fans can be an ornery bunch sometimes, depending on the topic. If you want to look at it from a positive side, if you truly believe in the vision that the organization has set moving forward. To acquire a first-round pick in ’27, acquire a first-round pick in ’28, you now have two first-round picks in each of the next two drafts. That’s something that has plagued this organization, is having draft picks on a year-to-year basis. Now you’ve accumulated multiple first-round picks, gives you more bite at the apple. If you’re Titans fans, you can hang your hat on that, that if you truly believe in the vision that this organization has set over the last two seasons, you trust that their ability to draft and some of the players that they’ve drafted, you know, from rounds 1 through 7, then you should be excited, or you should have some hope.”

Why Titans fans have earned the ‘ornery’ label

I’m sure Titans fans will hear that “ornery bunch” line from Carthon. Yeah . . . they have been.

That’s what happens when a team goes through historic levels of losing. Tennessee has won 13 of its last 65 games. Yes, that is correct. The Titans are 13-55 since Nov. 17, 2022, which is also the last time they won back-to-back games. That streak came off a home win against the Denver Broncos and a Thursday night win at the Green Bay Packers.

Tennessee had a chance to finally do it again last Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and squandered it.

Here’s the wildest part. When the Titans last won consecutive games, Carthon wasn’t even the GM yet. Since then, Tennessee fired GM Jon Robinson, hired Carthon, fired Mike Vrabel, fired Carthon, and fired head coach Brian Callahan. That’s how we got to the current duo of general manager Mike Borgonzi and Titans coach Robert Saleh.

Over those 66 games, Malik Willis flamed out as a potential replacement for Ryan Tannehill. Will Levis showed a glimpse of what the future could look like before he fell apart in 2024. And Cam Ward, the 1st overall pick, hasn’t shown enough progress for anybody to feel good about his immediate direction.

Watching Simmons walk out the door makes the toll of those four years hit home.

Now, Tennessee holds four first-round picks across the next two drafts. There’s a lot of opportunity there for the Titans to do something impressive. They also have a strong chance of picking not just in the top five, but first or second in the 2027 NFL draft, a class loaded with talent everywhere except quarterback.

Carthon properly hit both emotional layers of this fallout. First, the locker room has to survive the shock. Then, the fan base gets to look for hope after the initial grieving stage.