Denver Broncos: Top 10 things that have defined 2020

6. Justin Simmons doesn’t get a long-term deal

For the first time in the John Elway era, a player who was franchise tagged earlier in the offseason did not receive a long-term deal by the deadline to receive one.

This had to be one of the more bizarre deals of the entire year for the Broncos, at least just in terms of things the team could legitimately control.

Simmons has now been twice named the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year candidate and he stands a decent chance of winning that honor in 2020. Simmons exemplifies everything — everything — the Broncos have emphasized when it comes to wanting to be a Bronco, being a team-first guy, playing at a high level, being available, and being consistent.

Simmons may not have a signature post-game sound byte that has gone viral at this point, but he’s one of the top leaders on the team and is one of the only guys on defense that has consistently been able to create turnovers over the last five years.

The fact that he doesn’t already have a long-term deal is surprising, but once the deadline passed, the Broncos obviously had to wait for the 2021 offseason to negotiate again.

Hopefully, that will get done, but Simmons showed what kind of guy he is by literally playing every snap and not missing any practice time while on the franchise tag.