The Denver Broncos are putting the franchise’s brand in the safety of Justin Simmons for the second consecutive season, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN on Friday.
Simmons, who was about to become an unrestricted free agent, becomes the first player to be scored this season. The Broncos now have until July 15 to strike a long-term deal.
“Justin is one of our main players and our goal since I arrived here was to hire him for a long-term contract,” said Broncos general manager George Paton on Thursday. “We had good discussions with his agent. I don’t know if we are going to close a deal or not, but that is our goal. He is the type of guy we would like to extend.”
NFL teams have until March 9 at 4 pm Eastern Time to place the franchise mark on their most valuable player.
Simmons, the Broncos’ third round pick in the 2016 draft, played in the franchise’s player brand in 2020, worth $ 11.4 million. He finished with 96 tackles and five interceptions. It was his third consecutive season of 90 tackles. He has consistently been an active player in defending racing along the line of scrimmage with the versatility to match a variety of players on the cover.
Simmons, 27, has the combination of on-field performance and off-field community involvement, as he has played every defensive snap in each of the past three seasons and was named the Broncos nominee last season by the Walter Payton Prize of the year man.
When Paton was hired in January, the president of the Broncos football operations, John Elway, said that trying to rehire Simmons was “one of the biggest things” that Paton had on his to-do list.
Simmons has consistently been one of the most active players in the community and one of the team’s key voices in social justice initiatives.
He won the Darrent Williams Good Guy award, given by the Denver section of Pro Football Writers of America each season to the Broncos player, for recognizing the professionalism and depth in interactions with the media. Simmons is the only winner of the award three times since he started in 2006.
Jeff Legwold of ESPN contributed to this report.