Skip to main content
Bear Digest

Considering Bears' Track Record After Overpayment for Jeffery Simmons

While what the Bears gave up for a Pro Bowl defensive tackle looks like a steep price, their past finding this type of talent is a pretty good reason to do it.
Gene Chamberlain|
If not for the Ryan Poles-Ben Johnson tag team and Caleb Williams, the Bears couldn' t make moves like their big trade.
If not for the Ryan Poles-Ben Johnson tag team and Caleb Williams, the Bears couldn' t make moves like their big trade. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Chicago Bears video

One after the other charges have filtered in claiming the Bears "overpaid" to acquire defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

Overpayment is a relative thing. Much is relative in the NFL.

Would a man in the middle of the desert without food and water for days give quite a bit more than someone sitting in a major metropolitan area for a drink and a bite to eat? Is that overpayment? To him it isn't.

The Bears have wandered that desert when it comes to drafting defensive tackles and also defensive ends for more than a decade and a half. Their luck has also been as poor as their drafting at this position.

The two Pro Bowl defensive linemen they drafted since the turn of the century were Henry Melton and Tommie Harris by the Jerry Angelo regime that ended after 2012. Both had injuries that cut short their time as standouts, or in Harris' case a dominant player.

There is hope Austin Booker is on the path to being a productive, even explosive edge rusher. They did draft some players who played well and were discarded or dealt away, like Gervon Dexter and Leonard Floyd. There were players useful for a few years but then nothing, like Eddie Goldman, Bilal Nichols, Mark Anderson and Corey Wootton. Still, their hit percentage is poor.

And face it, there were unmitigated disasters. First-round picks for Michael Haynes, Shea McClellin, seconds for Tank Johnson, Dan Bazuin and Ego Ferguson and thirds for Jarron Gilbert, Marcus Harrison and Zacch Pickens all fall into the bust category. Gilbert could jump out of a swimming pool but didn't get to the passer or ball carrier. Bazuin didn't play a down in the NFL.


They have not been able to draft and develop standout defensive linemen, and particularly defensive tackles, for a decade and a half. Harris' three Pro Bowls were easily their greatest D-tackle accomplishments since the Mike Ditka coaching era.

High price fits when there's no other way

Maybe to someone who thinks you just draft a first-rounder and they develop into stars, giving up two first-round picks and a fourth for Simmons is overpayment but when they can't find these players the easy way they have to get them somehow.

Sticking the blame with GM Ryan Poles is convenient but he's no more guilty of failure here than any of the other GMs they've had since the McCaskeys relented and hired Angelo in 2001 as the franchise's first official GM since firing Jerry Vainisi in 1987.

Acknowledging past failure doesn't dictate giving away two draft picks. If a GM did this, they would be buying their ticket out of town. The general public can accept this as a good reason, though.

Poles had to look at the possibility of what Simmons did give them.

"I spent a lot of time throughout the season and especially before we have situations like this where we really look at what does '27, '28, '29, '30 look like and how does this move impact us moving forward because we always go back to, ‘Can we sustain success? Can we sustain being a championship caliber team or does this take us out of it?’

"We work that process often and then when you come to a big decision like this you want to make sure that you're not hurting the organization long-term just to have short-term gain."

Is the future shot?

Just because they gave up two first-round picks doesn't mean they give up on their draft. Poles brought up a common theme on social media when it comes to the topic of building teams.

"One thing I want to hit, I know it's kind of a joke that kind of goes around but like 'F- them picks' is a big thing," he said, to laughter. "That's really not what we're about. I know it took a lot to get this done, but we absolutely believe that the draft and bringing young talent is a way that you sustain success around here.

"I'm challenging myself and our crew for the picks that we do have, we have to hit. We have to be great with our undrafted free agent process and whatever tier of free agency we're working in which will have constraints we got to hit there too. We have a good track record it continues to get better every year, so I’ve got a lot of faith that we'll be able to get that done, and again, sustain success."

It could be a better track record, especially when it comes to drafting defensive linemen, but Poles then touched on the real reason the Bears can afford to take the big swing.

"Then, I would say, the last thing is just tremendous amount of belief in our head coach and coaching staff," Poles said. "You don't do that if you don't have that. A lot of hope and belief in our quarterback and the path that he's on, as well. That makes you feel really comfortable with making a decision like this."

Without Williams playing the way he has, the Bears are still focusing their draft picks and/or trade interest on QBs.

With Johnson, they have someone with enough proven success so far at helping the personnel staff identify talent that they can anticipate hitting on their remaning draft picks to a greater rate.

The Bears really don't need to explain why they decided to take a big swing at a defensive tackle, a total barbaric disrupter in the middle of the line. His talent is obviously needed.

What they'll need to explain is why they didn't come up with enough talent in future drafts across their roster with their remaining picks after they made this decision.

Drafted Bears defensive linemen

Since 2000

2026: DT Jordan van den Berg, 6th round

2025: DE/DT Shemar Turner, 2nd round

2024: DE Austin Booker, 5th round

2023: DT Gervon Dexter, 2nd round

2023: DT Zacch Pickens, 3rd round

2023: DT Travis Bell, 7th round

2022: DT Dominique Robinson, 5th round

2021: DT Khyris Tonga, 7th round

2020: DE Trevis Gipson, 5th round

2018: DT Bilal Nichols, 5th round

2017: DE Kylie Fitts, 6th round

2016: DE Leonard Floyd, 1st round

2016: DT Jonathan Bullard, 3rd round

2015: DT Eddie Goldman, 2nd round

2014: DT Ego Ferguson, 2nd round

2014: DT Will Sutton, 3rd round

2012: DE Shea McClellin, 1st round

2010: DE Corey Wootton, 4th round

2009: DT Jarron Gilbert, 3rd round

2009: DT/DE Henry Melton*, 4th round

2008: DT Marcus Harrison, 3rd round

2008: DE Ervin Baldwin, 7th round

2007: DE Dan Bazuin, 2nd round

2006: DT Dusty Dvoracek, 3rd round

2006: DE Mark Anderson, 5th round

2004: DT Tommie Harris**, 1st round

2004: DT Tank Johnson, 2nd round

2004: DE Claude Harriott, 5th round

2003: DE Michael Haynes, 1st round

2003: DT Ian Scott, 4th round

2003: DT Tron LaFavor, 5th round

2002: DE Alex Brown, 4th round

**3-time Pro Bowl, second-team All-Pro

*Pro Bowl

Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published | Modified
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

Home/News