Justin Simmons
It won’t be cheap to re-sign Justin Simmons, but the Broncos will be absolutely crazy not to do it. Now in his fifth season with the team, Simmons has become one of the best safeties in the NFL and was recently named to his first Pro Bowl.
During last offseason, the Broncos placed the franchise tag on Simmons and he signed a one-year tender for $11.4 million. Spotrac projects his annual salary to be around $14.6 million on his next contract.
That’s expensive, but some players are worth it.
Simmons has proven to be worth it as he has gotten better in each of his seasons with the Broncos. For his career, he has 381 total tackles, 15 interceptions and 35 passes defensed.
In 2020, he will likely set a career high for tackles in a single season and he has matched his career best for interceptions in a season with four. John Elway really needs to find a good deal for this player and sign him to an extension, making him one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.
The alternative would be to allow him to test free agency where he would be one of the biggest prizes on the entire market. Another team would swoop in and sign him probably on the first or second day of the signing period and have a perennial Pro Bowler on their squad. .
Simmons was always going to be pricey to retain, but the kind of season he has had in 2020 pushed that number up. This is a player who knows his worth and he is going to be expecting that kind of contract.