Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi said All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons didn’t want to leave when the team traded him to the Bears in a stunning blockbuster on Thursday.

While speaking to reporters, Borgonzi explained some of his “really hard” conversation with Simmons informing him of the trade.

“It was really hard. I don’t think Jeff wanted to leave here,” Borgonzi said. “I thanked him for everything he’s done here and, you know, on and off the field. It’s a really hard conversation.

“I think it’s also a great opportunity for him, as I told him, to go someplace here and have an opportunity to compete now for a Super Bowl.”

The Titans (1-6) — now in a rebuild under first-year head coach Robert Saleh — are receiving 2027 and 2028 first-round picks, plus a 2027 fourth-round pick, from the Bears (5-2) for Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick.

Borgonzi explained that the thought of trading 29-year-old Simmons “never really crossed my mind” until he received a call late Wednesday night from Bears general manager Ryan Poles.

He then discussed the situation with Saleh and team owner Amy Adams-Strunk, and they agreed to move forward with the trade.

“At no point anytime since I’ve been here did we ever try to trade Jeffrey Simmons,” Borgonzi said. “We’ve gotten a lot of phone calls on Jeff, really since I’ve been hired here [in January 2025], but it’s never really crossed my mind. And I got a phone call late last night from a person that I’ve known for a while, Ryan Poles … We considered the compensation, and it was too good to pass up.”

Saleh explained that “everything about [trading Simmons] sucks,” but the Titans couldn’t say “no” to such an offer from Chicago.

“I told our guys, when you don’t close out games and you’re standing here at 1-6 teams are going to start fishing,” Saleh said Thursday. “And eventually a team threw a hook big enough that I don’t think any of us could have said no to.”

Simmons has spent his entire NFL career with the Titans after Tennessee selected him with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft.

Just Wednesday, Simmons told reporters that he wanted to be in Tennessee, adding that he didn’t hear anything from his agents or the team about a trade.

Simmons signed a three-year, $105 million contract extension with the Titans in June that keeps him under contract through 2029.

He had a career-best 11 sacks last season and was named a first-team All-Pro.

Simmons has 46.5 sacks, 72 tackles for loss and 96 quarterback hits over his career.

He could make his debut when the Bears play the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks (4-3) on “Monday Night Football.”