Predicting a possible contract for Justin Simmons and the Denver Broncos.
Justin Simmons, the All-Pro safety for the Denver Broncos, will be a part of the team for the 2020 season. While Simmons has been very forthcoming about his intentions to not hold out, even if that meant playing on the franchise tag this upcoming season, that was made official when Simmons signed his tender this past weekend.
Broncos’ safety Justin Simmons officially has accepted his franchise tender and is expected to sign it this weekend, per sources. It’s just a formality now.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 10, 2020
Four franchise players now have not signed their tender: Yannick Ngakoue, Shaq Barrett, Chris Jones and AJ Green.
Now, the attention turns to the looming deadline Wednesday with Simmons camp and the Broncos still working diligently to getting a long-term deal done.
I reported on @nflnetwork that even though S Justin Simmons agreed to sign his tag, both sides are continuing to talk to see if they can get a long term deal done. Not saying one will happen, but the 4 players who have been tagged by Elway all reached multiyear deals b4 deadline
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) July 13, 2020
The NFL contract market was set on fire last week when Patrick Mahomes unprecedented 10-year, $503 million contract extension was announced. This contract had a number of unique aspects to it such as rolling guaranteed roster bonuses in lieu of a large up-front signing bonus to act as a ‘guarantee mechanism’. While these are not uncommon in NFL contracts, to have them throughout the length of the contract, and for 10 years nonetheless is unheard of.
This is likely a product of COVID-19, being that teams are likely looking at their actual cashflows under a far more granular microscope and not wanting to dish out large sums of cash with the macroeconomics in place. With that said, how might the Mahomes deal impact a potential Justin Simmons long-term contract may look like for the Broncos?
There are a few things to consider when looking into a potential deal for Justin Simmons:
- Justin Simmons is coming off of his first All-Pro designation and is widely regarded as one of the top safeties in the NFL. Because of that, Simmons camp is going to make sure he becomes the highest-paid safety in the league—even if the Broncos’ initial offer wouldn’t reflect that. The first thing we need to look at is the current safety market to understand the rough parameters of what the deal is going to look like.
- The Broncos cap situation, not only this year but for years to come—how much do the Broncos want to commit against the cap year over year for a deal like this?
- How is guaranteed money going to work? Do they use a more traditional model of a larger up-front signing bonus and get most of the guaranteed money out of the way in the first few years, or do they use the Mahomes deal as a way to re-look and use these ‘guarantee mechanisms’ in the form of advanced commitment roster bonuses to lock-in?