Broncos News: Justin Simmons considered highly likely to return in 2021

The Denver Broncos were unable to reach an agreement on a long-term deal with Justin Simmons before the deadline for franchise-tagged players hit last week.

With that said, fans of the team, many of which are disappointed that a deal wasn’t reached, should have little fear that Simmons plays somewhere else next season. He will play in Denver in 2020 under the franchise tag but will become an unrestricted free agent following the season.

The Broncos will have a chance to bring him back with a long-term contract or they could tag him again, though that would be even more costly. As Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com notes, fans should not be too worried about Simmons going to another team.

Rosenthal chose to rank each of the 13 players who were tagged this offseason from most likely to remain with their current team to least likely. Of those 13 players, Simmons came in at No. 2 on the list.

The only player more likely to return to his current team, according to this list, would be Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Broncos fans should take solace in that. It’s definitely frustrating that the two sides could not reach a deal, but John Elway did call the move not to sign Simmons to a long-term deal before the July 15 deadline was just a placeholder for the time being.

Elway should be trusted in that since he has always done right by the players he has placed a tag on in the past, such as Von Miller, Demaryius Thomas and Matt Prater.

A deal with Simmons will be reached. The Broncos have to understand how valuable he is and how he could eventually even be mentioned in the same breath as Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith in terms of great safeties in team history. Aside from that, he is perfect for Vic Fangio’s defense.

Unless something unforeseen and unpredictable takes place, Simmons should be in orange and blue for many more years to come.