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NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans fans got a big scare on Sunday night when Titans’ superstar defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons pulled a familiar move. As has become par for the course in today’s NFL, Simmons removed connections to the Titans on his social media accounts before ultimately deleting his Instagram and Twitter account.

As mentioned, this has become a common move for players to make during contract negotiations. Simmons is currently set to play the 2023 on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. His salary would be $10.7 million, far below what some estimate Simmons would receive on the open market.

Simmons has made the NFL All-Pro team two seasons running and is consistently ranked as a top five interior defensive lineman by media publications. His impact and ability are well known at this point. 

Simmons, understandably so, wants to get some long-term money in place before going into the final year of his contract.

With negotiations presumably ongoing between the Titans and Simmons, seeing him make these moves on social media should shock no one. This is what the modern player does to put pressure on an organization. You see it every year and every offseason. What it means is the bigger question.

Does this mean Jeffery Simmons no longer wants to be a Titan based on what’s happening behind the scenes with negotiations? Could it mean the Titans are looking to move Simmons to a team that will pay him? Could it not have anything to do with his contract and be something less or something more?

Those are all valid questions or concerns at this point. While this type of social media scrub is common, Titans fans will be particularly triggered after seeing AJ Brown get traded to Philadelphia last offseason. It is fair for fans to be a little freaked out by this move even if it does not result in Simmons leaving the team.

For now, the negotiations will hopefully continue and a resolution to the Simmons situation comes soon. The Titans are looking to bounce back from a 7-10 season that included seven straight losses to end the year. They rank 14th out of 16 teams in Fanduel's odds of winning the AFC next year.

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