Titans, star DT Jeffery Simmons strike revised deal with ripple effects for NFL franchises

The Tennessee Titans have reworked Jeffery Simmons’ deal, rewarding the star defensive tackle with an additional $632,529 for the 2025 campaign. The adjustment ensures the two-time Second-Team All-Pro gets properly compensated for the league’s 17th game, which wasn’t included in the final year of his prior extension.

Back in 2023, the Titans locked up Jeffery Simmons with a four-year, $94 million extension, ensuring the two-time All-Pro would stay in Nashville through 2027. But because the deal was finalized a year before his rookie contract expired, Simmons played that season under his fifth-year option. That created a wrinkle — he suited up for all 17 games, but only received 16 game checks, since the option year hadn’t been adjusted for the NFL’s expanded schedule. Fast forward to now, and Simmons is finally collecting the missing paycheck — $632,529 for that extra game in 2023.

Credit goes to Simmons’ reps at Athletes First, who fought to get their client what he was owed. In doing so, Simmons becomes the first player in the league to retroactively earn that 17th-game compensation, potentially paving the way for others in similar situations to follow.

For Tennessee, it's a fair move — and a message that they value their defensive cornerstone. Since arriving in 2019, Simmons has built a résumé that places him among the NFL’s elite interior linemen: two Second-Team All-Pro nods, three Pro Bowls, and four straight seasons with at least five sacks. Already in 2025, he’s made his presence felt with 10 pressures, five QB hits, four hurries, and a sack through just two games — numbers that project him to shatter his previous career-high in total pressures.

It’ll be worth keeping an eye on whether other players who missed out on that extra 17th paycheck push to collect what's rightfully theirs. 

With Jeffery Simmons’ situation setting the tone, anyone whose final game wasn't properly accounted for in the "old money" versus "new money" calculations now has a legitimate argument to get that cash back. The Titans, Simmons, and his reps at Athletes First may have just opened the door for a wave of similar claims across the league.

Now, attention turns to the field once again. Week 3 brings Tennessee's first divisional clash of the 2025 campaign as they welcome the Indianapolis Colts to Nissan Stadium on Sept. 21. With both AFC South rivals looking to set the tone early, this matchup should provide a real measuring stick as the schedule starts to heat up following a disappointing 0-2 start.