“The Wire’s” Slim Charles once said, “The thing about the old days, they the old days.” And it’s what Denver Broncos general manager George Paton should tell free agent safety Justin Simmons if he asks about re-signing with the team following the Brandon Jones injury. Here’s a fun fact: Simmons was the first contract extension Paton did after getting hired during the 2021 offseason. The logical endpoint of the five-year pact was after Year 3, after the 2023 season.
Why Broncos Won’t Re-Sign Justin Simmons
And there’s no logic to re-signing Simmons this season after he played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024. Simmons, then 31, played on 1,017 defensive snaps (98%). He totaled 62 total tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, and seven passes defensed. Simmons was No. 16 in PFSN’s Safety Impact Score as well, with an 80.7 rating. So, why is there no logic to re-signing Simmons?
The Broncos have roughly $2.6 million in cap space for the remainder of the 2025 season. Simmons, meanwhile, played on a one-year, seven-million-dollar contract last season. There’s no room. Enter fellow safety P.J. Locke (More on him below). If the Broncos wanted Simmons, then the Broncos would’ve retained Simmons.
Instead, the Broncos signed Brandon Jones during the 2024 offseason to a three-year pact to play alongside Locke. And after that season, the Broncos signed Talanoa Hufanga during the 2025 offseason. That’s two times the Broncos showed their hand with Simmons. Denver cut him after the 2023 season and signed another safety. Then, after a season away, the Broncos opted not to bring Simmons back — and signed another safety (again).
Locke, meanwhile, got valuable starter snaps in 2024 for a full season and is the subpackage starter in 2025 in big nickel and big dime. Now, he has a three-game audition for the rest of the league in a contract year. There’s no logical reason for the Broncos to retain Locke, 28, after this season. So, it’s a win-win for the team and player coming out of a devastating situation.
So even if there was cap space for Simmons, it doesn’t make logical sense to keep Locke on the bench — a full-time starter in 2024. The Broncos already made the decision to pass on Simmons for the foreseeable future by going with Jones and Locke in 2024. A year later, nothing’s changed.
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