Justin Simmons dream reunion with Broncos all but officially squashed

The Denver Broncos got a steal when they took Missouri CB Kris Abrams-Draine in the 2024 NFL Draft. Well, KAD has a number with the Broncos, and it's a familiar one. On Thursday, the Broncos finally released numbers for the 2024 NFL Draft rookie class, and you can see them here:

Yes, rookie cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine took No. 31, which belonged to former Denver Broncos legend Justin Simmons from 2016-2023. Simmons was a third-round pick out of Boston College and was initially projected to be more of a rotational, special teams type of player, but when year three hit, Simmons took the leap.

Anyway, he was cut after the 2023 NFL Season and is still on the open market. And frankly, Simmons is still the best and most consistent safety in the NFL, so what is going on there? Well, the Broncos 31 jersey will continue to get some wear, as Kris Abrams-Draine decides to go with that number. Who knows why he decided to pick No. 31, but honestly, he's got big shoes to fill.

And I bet when we see him on the field, we'll immediately think about Justin Simmons, who was an even better person off the field than he was a player on the field. Now, here's an interesting situation; if the Denver Broncos somehow brought Justin Simmons back, what number would he take? There's some food for thought.

Another notable thing here to note is that Bo Nix is wearing No. 10, which originally belonged to Zach Wilson. Nix wore 10 at college and it was expected that he'd be able to snag it in the NFL. While numbers don't mean much when it's all said and done, it's interesting to see how the Broncos rookie numbers have shaken out.

Jerry Jeudy was the last Broncos player to wear No. 10 for the team, so Bo Nix won't have to do much to represent that number better than Jeudy did.