The Tennessee Titans finally locked up their superstar defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons on Friday, with the two sides agreeing to a four-year contract extension.
According to ESPN’s Turron Davenport, Simmons’ four-year deal is worth $94 million and includes $66 million guaranteed and a $24 million signing bonus.
With the $23.5 million annual average, Simmons surpasses recently-extended Washington Commanders defensive lineman, Daron Payne, and he becomes the second-highest-paid defensive lineman in the NFL behind superstar Aaron Donald, who gets $31 million per, according to Spotrac.
While he falls behind Donald in AAV, Simmons’ $66 million guaranteed is $1 million more than the Los Angeles Rams interior defender, according to Over the Cap, showing the kind of respect they have for Simmons.
It’s important to note that Simmons will still play on the fifth-year option this season at $10.75 million, which means his new deal won’t kick in until 2024 and the Titans actually have Big Jeff locked up for a total of five years.
One aspect of the contract we don’t have yet is how much Simmons will cost in Year 1, and per year after that.
If I had to guess, I’d imagine the Titans will structure it with a low Year 1 cap hit. However, Tennessee is projected to have $127.9 million in cap space in 2024, so that type of structure isn’t necessarily a must.
This deal is a major win for Tennessee, as not only does the team lock up its star defender, but they also get the deal done before other high-profile deals, like Dexter Lawrence’s and Quinnen Williams’. If Tennessee had gotten it done after, it might’ve cost the team more.
All in all, this was a move the Titans had to make, and the deal itself is very fair for both sides. It’s safe to say general manager Ran Carthon hit a home run here in more ways than one.
