Bears and Seahawks Pay Premium Prices as the NFL Trade Deadline Turns Contenders Into Buyers

The price of buying now

The Chicago Bears paid the going rate for a star in his prime, and then some. Chicago acquired defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons from the Tennessee Titans, sending a 2027 first-round pick, a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick to Tennessee, and getting Simmons plus a 2028 fifth-round pick in return. The deal was pending a physical examination when it was announced. Simmons was a first-round pick of the Titans in the 2019 draft, was named to four Pro Bowls during his time in Tennessee and served as a five-time team captain. m:…5206 m:…2166

Seattle paid a different kind of price. The Seahawks acquired guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts, adding a player who has been named to the Pro Bowl in every season of his career. Nelson and Joe Thomas are the only offensive linemen in league history to make the Pro Bowl in each of their first eight seasons, and Nelson is now in his ninth season. He will start at left guard for Seattle, with Grey Zabel moving from left guard to right guard and Anthony Bradford moving to a reserve role. m:…2780 m:…3334

What Seattle says it is buying

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said the acquisition of Nelson is an opportunity to make the Seahawks better, and said the trade is not a commentary on existing personnel. Teammate Leonard Williams said Nelson will bring leadership and experience to the team. Nelson is already working with center Jalen Sundell to learn the offensive line calls, since Seattle's playbook uses different terminology from the Colts' system he came from. m:…3334 m:…2780 m:…5667

There is a clock on the Seattle deal that Chicago does not face. Nelson will be a free agent at the end of the current season, so the Seahawks are buying a stretch run, not a long-term piece, unless a new deal follows. Nelson himself praised Seattle's defensive line, calling Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams elite and difficult to block, and he credited his durability to a routine of stretching, activation, healthy eating, sleep and deep tissue massage. m:…5667

What the sellers are saying

The other side of a deadline deal is a team conceding the season, and analysts on a Pittsburgh Steelers show read the Simmons trade exactly that way, saying the Titans are effectively signaling they are not interested in competing for the current season. Tennessee's record backs up that reading: the Titans are 1-6. But the rest of the league is not writing Tennessee off entirely. Bengals players and coaches remain wary of the Titans' remaining defensive line talent despite the Simmons trade. m:…8533 m:…4090

That split is the deadline in miniature. Buyers like Chicago and Seattle are spending future draft capital and reshuffling their lines for a run now, while a 1-6 seller cashes in its best defensive player for picks in 2027 and 2028. Whether the buyers got value will turn on things not yet known: whether Simmons passes his physical, whether Nelson stays in Seattle past this season, and whether either move changes a playoff race that is still taking shape. m:…2166 m:…5667

The same Pittsburgh discussion made a broader point about why deadline deals now carry this weight: building a sustainable culture in the modern NFL is significantly harder due to high annual roster turnover and free agency. That churn is the backdrop against which Chicago paid two first-round picks for Simmons and Seattle reshuffled its line for Nelson. m:…8533