The Detroit Lions now have a much more difficult task in order to win the NFC North.

After the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers made improvements to their roster by making trades, the Chicago Bears are the latest team to pull of a blockbuster trade.

According to multiple reporters, Detroit's NFC North rival has acquired defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and agreed to send the Tennessee Titans first-round picks in both the 2027 and 2028 NFL Drafts. Included in the deal is a 2027 fourth-round pick.

In the last seven years, four teams that have made aggressive trades have went on to win the Super Bowl, including the 2019 Chiefs, 2020 Rams, 2022 Eagles and 2025 Seahawks.

According to Sports Illustrated, "Oddsmakers are loving this deal for the Bears, who entered Week 8 at +1400 to win the Super Bowl at DraftKings Sportsbook. They were the No. 4 team in my most recent NFL Power Rankings after beating New England in Week 7 and moving up in the odds to win the title. Now, DraftKings has the Bears at +1200 to win the Super Bowl this season, which is good for the sixth-best odds in the entire league.

"The move for Simmons should help fix a Chicago defense that is allowing the most yards per play in the NFL this season. While the Bears' advanced metrics are better -- they rank 14th in EPA/Play and seventh in success rate -- this team needs to be better on that side of the ball to compete with the best teams in the NFC."

Granted, many of the bigger deals were executed in the offseason, but teams this season that are favored in the NFC have started to improve their rosters, while Detroit sits patiently, hoping to find the perfect deal.

Detroit has a clear need on defense and were not able to land the prized cornerback that was available in Joey Porter Jr.

The one complaint many supporters have is general manager Brad Holmes is extremely wary of adding external players in trades. The market does tend to be high-priced and would likely cost Detroit draft capital. Holmes has been willing to trade draft capital to target prospects in the draft.

It appears that in order for Detroit to take the next forward from being merely one of the contenders to being realistically in the mix this season is to add to the defense, most notably at the cornerback position.

The Bears lost both games to Detroit last season and are off to a 5-2 start this season.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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