The Denver Broncos did not choose Justin Simmons to sign a multi-year contract extension, instead opting to stick to the franchise tag that the team applied for security early last spring. Simmons certainly made a big increase by earning .4 11.441 million on the franchise tag, almost three times what he earned during his four-year rookie contract. For one season.
Playing at an all-pro level in a contract year can do that for safety. Simmons entered the negotiations with Denver this past off fee in hopes of becoming the game’s highest-earning safety.
However, the Broncos wanted to see him duplicate his 2019 performance before rolling out long-term money. Initial return? So far, GM John Alway thinks he was smarter to ‘rent’ Simmons for one more year instead of building in a mortgage.
The flick spread in the first quarter of Sims’ season. Simmons’ regression could be the biggest disappointment so far, apart from the injuries to the Broncos.
Even though he still gets a top-10 safety grade from the likes of Pro Football Focus L Focus, anyone who has watched the Broncos ’four games this year can observe that he was far from the high-impact player he was last year. Of all the options near-no-roster in the Broncos, the trade deadline is fast approaching, Simmons currently makes the most sense if Alway decides to make a deal.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, The Broncos could potentially see Trading Simmons in the Dallas Cowboys before the October 29 deadline instead of the October 29 deadline. Pick the 2021 second round, pick the 2022 fourth-round.
Broncos fans will probably want to get a package the size of Jamal Adams in exchange for their star safety, but that’s not real. Adams was two years away from free agency, while Simmons is already on his first franchise tag. The Broncos could not come to terms with an extension of the contract with Boston K College ledge product before the season, and Simmons was ready to earn 13 13.7 million on another franchise tagg against a cap of $ 175 million next year, things are not going that way. Any easy idea.
If Denver loses its next two games and is out of the playoff race 1-5, it will have to face the facts. There is no point in playing in the second half of the season he lost before Simmons was released into free agency. By licking in the second-round pick, the Broncos get a better choice than the third-round compensation recruitment option, which comes a year earlier and allows general manager John Alway to spend in a free agency that will not ignore the compensation payment option.
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It may hurt some fans to hear that but Barnwell’s reasoning isn’t to blame. If a team like the Cowboys were willing to hand over the next round to another round, the Broncos would not be able to participate in at least these next two games by beating the New England Patriots this week or the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver. The year, plus the mid-round pick, knowing the economic hurdles that await this team in 2021, would be a great job to go through.
Now, if Simmons was getting the ball out, it would have been a different story. It is usually not appropriate to deal with select players in their prime.
Simmons hinted in 2019 that he may have elite potential but is playing at the replacement level in the first quarter of this season. If Simmons will call the right team, offering a second-round selection in return, it is a deal that should be taken all day on Sunday and twice.
I don’t expect a deal. Nevertheless, Alve has been active for years on the trading deadline. In 2018, Alway handed over to all-time wideout DeMarius Thomas and pro bowler Emanuel Sanders in 2019.
The way Simmons is playing, I find it hard to find any team ready for a second-round selection for him, even if he can use safety assistance like the Cowboys. We’re finally talking about a year’s wonder.
The Broncos invested in Simmons in the third-round pick in 2016, so should he be taken for a second-rounder only for five years? It would be quite a coup to celebrate for Elve GM.
He is likely to be the head coach, Vic Fangio, who will be fully on-board, even if the right offer comes in the way of Denver. I would be curious to know how Fangio feels about his .4 11.4 million safety that plays at the replacement level.
My guess is – since we’re talking strictly in the hypothesis – Fangio will offer it too. At the rate at which Simmons is playing, the Broncos will be left to hit such a rebound if it ever becomes a reality.
Which it will not. Guessing is fun, though, isn’t it?
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