Titans’ Star Jeffery Simmons Looking to Recruit Former All-Pro Linebacker

Tennessee Titans' defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons took to Twitter to try and bring one of the most decorated linebackers in NFL history to come play in Nashville in 2023.

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans need to focus on getting Jeffery Simmons a new contract to keep him with the team for the foreseeable future, but even without a long-term deal in place, Simmons is trying to recruit players to join him in Nashville.

Simmons took to Twitter earlier this week and attempted to recruit former all-pro and super bowl champion linebacker Bobby Wagner to join the Titans’ defense. As seen in the tweet below, Simmons advised Wagner that “Tennessee is wonderful” and Simmons would “make your job a little easier.”

There are few ways to look at this recruiting pitch from Simmons that Titans fans should enjoy. First, if Jeffery Simmons is trying to recruit players to come to Tennessee while also talking nicely about being there, that is a good sign Simmons should want to and be with the Titans for the foreseeable future. Also, it shows Simmons is willing to recruit. Willing to make calls and tweets and try to get some of the league’s best to Nashville. That should give Titans’ fans the warm and fuzzies.

How realistic would it be though? You can’t know for certain how interested Wagner would be, but there is some logic to the move. The Titans are very thin at the linebacker spot as of the writing of this article. Starting linebacker Zach Cunningham was just released and the other starting linebacker, David Long, is set to become a free agent in a few weeks. The Titans could still bring Long back, but his expected contract ranges from $4.9-13 million a season and if Long is at the high end of that range, the Titans will likely have to let him go.

The need is there, to put it shortly with only young and unproven players remaining in the linebacker group like Monty Rice, Chance Campbell and Jack Gibbens. So, Wagner would be filling a need, but despite the cuts the Titans made this week to create cap space, the Titans still don’t have a lot of money to work with. Also, Wagner is at the end of his fantastic career, so would he be able to get the job done?

A quick look at 2022 and the answer is a resounding yes. Wagner put up 140 tackles with six sacks and earned a second-team all-pro selection, just like Simmons. Wagner is still one of the best at his position in the NFL. Now for the money, that is more complicated. Prior to his release from the Los Angeles Rams, Wagner was set to make $11.5-12.5 million a season for the next few years. The Titans could give him a decent bonus upfront to keep his cap hit low, but the amount of years Wagner is signed for would affect how much they can work with the contract.

There is the possibility that Wagner comes to Nashville on a one-year deal and maybe the Titans can get him at a bargain around $8-10 million, which compared to what David Long may receive, would be an upgrade for cheaper, but it is still likely Wagner wants more than that based on how he performed last season.

Whether Wagner comes to Tennessee or not shouldn’t be the big takeaway here. What does matter is Jeffery Simmons is not only the face of the defense and most talented player on the team, but he is willing to recruit players to play along side him and that in itself is a huge value going forward.

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