The Green Bay Packers enter Thursday night’s home game against the Carolina Panthers at 4-3 and already sitting last in the NFC North.
The Minnesota Vikings are undefeated at 6-0, the Chicago Bears are 5-2, and the Detroit Lions are 4-2. Green Bay’s path to a division title—or even a comfortable playoff spot—already looked narrow. It just got narrower.
On Thursday, the Bears completed a blockbuster trade for Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, sending their 2027 and 2028 first-round picks plus a 2027 fourth-rounder to Tennessee in exchange for Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
The 29-year-old is a four-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro who posted a career-high 11 sacks in 2025 and already has four sacks and 38 tackles through seven games this season.
He is under contract through 2030 after signing a lucrative extension this summer.
For Packers fans, the move is especially painful. Green Bay’s interior offensive line has been one of the league’s weakest units.
The Packers rank last in the NFL in rushing yards per game, and quarterback Jordan Love has been hit dozens of times already. Simmons is among the best interior disruptors in football—equally effective collapsing the pocket and stopping the run.
He is exactly the kind of player who can exploit Green Bay’s most obvious weakness.
The Bears, led by quarterback Caleb Williams and coach Ben Johnson, are clearly treating this as a Super Bowl window.
Adding Simmons immediately upgrades a defensive front that already features Montez Sweat and Grady Jarrett. Chicago is not waiting around to see if the Vikings slip; they are fortifying the roster for the stretch run and beyond.
Green Bay still has Micah Parsons from last year’s blockbuster, but injuries have limited his impact so far.
The Packers also remain thin along their own defensive line. While both teams could still make further moves before the November 10 trade deadline, the Bears just removed one of the top available difference-makers from the market and placed him in the division.
The Packers already lost at Detroit and face a tough remaining schedule that includes a home date with the Vikings and a Christmas road game in Chicago.
A strengthened Bears defense makes those matchups even more difficult and further tilts the NFC North landscape against Green Bay.
The division title race is no longer just about catching the Vikings—it is about surviving a suddenly more complete Chicago team that has signaled it is all-in. For a Packers squad already in last place, that is unwelcome news.
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