The San Francisco 49ers pulled off an incredibly valuable trade with the Indianapolis Colts, sending a mere fourth-round NFL Draft pick to the Indianapolis Colts to reunite with Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner—a move that'll shore up serious deficiencies along the Niners defensive line.
It wasn't hard to see San Francisco's deal as a corresponding arms race-kind of move immediately after the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks poached All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson from Indy.
Just days later, the Tennessee Titans moved All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and a fifth-round pick to the Chicago Bears in exchange for two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder.
Wow.
The discrepancy in trade value is impossible to ignore. True, Simmons is younger and more impactful than Buckner at this stage of both players' careers. But the latter is still a major force, and it's important to recognize Buckner's prior relationship with the team that first drafted him back in 2016.
While the Buckner trade might be viewed as a 49ers steal, the Simmons trade may ultimately create significantly more challenges for the Niners in the days counting down to the NFL trade deadline.
Jeffery Simmons trade just created a massive seller's market 49ers may not match
The NFC West's arms race needs little introduction to San Francisco fans, but one may argue the NFC North is the more-hotly contested division with all four teams above the .500 mark and gunning for a postseason berth.
Chicago is clearly going all-in, meaning it wouldn't be surprising to see the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and still-undefeated Minnesota Vikings engineer corresponding moves.
For teams looking at trading away assets in exchange for draft capital, the Simmons deal sets a new benchmark. Those teams can start asking for heftier trade packages now, hoping that other teams take a Bears-like route and go all-in.
Putting it simply, the asking prices for potentially available players like Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson or even Los Angeles Chargers edge Khalil Mack just went up.
That could potentially discourage general manager John Lynch and the 49ers from aggressively pursuing more deals, especially now if teams are going to be asked to fork over more draft capital in the wake of the Simmons trade.
Granted, each scenario is unique, and the market for one player doesn't automatically dictate markets for the others.
However, after seeing what the Titans got from Chicago, other selling teams won't be as afraid to up their asking prices, especially if they anticipate other teams within contested divisions like the NFC North and NFC West to ramp up the arms race.
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