Payton viewed Simmons as luxury
When the Broncos walked off the field in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, failing to reach the playoffs for the eighth straight season, they had some problems. The coach had a quarterback he did not want. And the pieces of the roster puzzle did not fit.
It was an easy decision Monday for Sean Payton to move on from quarterback Russell Wilson. The hard part remains the financial reverberations of that move. With Wilson counting $85 million against the salary cap over the next two seasons, the Broncos face more difficult decisions with high-profile players. Goodbye, Justin Simmons. That is a sentence I hoped I would write after he won a few playoff games and announced his retirement before heading into the Ring of Fame. Instead, his exit arrived Thursday, with the Broncos announcing their plans to release the four-time All-pro.
Cutting the star free safety saves the Broncos $14.5 million on their salary cap. The math does not numb the pain. No player has performed better over the last eight seasons in Denver. Or been here longer.
And Simmons’ impact went beyond statistics. He was the cell tower in the middle of the field that made the signal work. Remember when the Broncos defense looked clueless and helpless against the Dolphins and Bears? When Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Fields were more accurate than a DNA test?
Guess who missed those two games with injury? Can you hear me know? The Broncos were tone deaf. And the results were embarrassing.
Simmons served as the air traffic controller, his greatest strengths helping the secondary line up correctly, while playing center field better than Andruw Jones. Simmons owns 30 interceptions, his fingers stickier than taffy.
The 30-year-old was even better off the field, providing help through his foundation for atrisk youth. It wasn’t uncommon for him to show up at the Boys and Girls Club and hang out with kids. It was there he was inspired by club members to create the March for Peace. This past holiday season I was with Simmons and his wife, Taryn, as they surprised families with Christmas trees and presents. Simmons is the type of person you want your daughter to marry.
The problem with professional sports? They are less sentimental than a photo radar ticket. Good guys only sometimes win — their status connected to salary, scheme, coaching changes and ownership whims.
Payton is resetting this roster in terms of his valuations. This was a salary cap move. But it wasn’t. It is an indication that Payton viewed a safety with an $18.25 million salary, no matter how talented, as a luxury. Payton wants to spend money differently, so the Broncos will lean on P.J. Locke — first they have to re-sign him — oft-injured Caden Sterns, second-year player JL Skinner and likely a clearancerack veteran.
Payton is not alone in viewing the position this way, which is why I wasn’t shocked. Safeties have become the new running backs. Everyone wants a good one, but no one wants to pay them. In the past few weeks, Kevin Byard, Jordan Poyer, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and Rayshawn Jenkins have all been released. Simmons is better than all of them and will have no trouble finding work. I wouldn’t be surprised if Philadelphia aggressively pursues him with Vic Fangio running the Eagles defense.
It’s easy to blame Payton for Simmons’ exit, connecting it to Wilson. In truth, this is the beginning of a cleansing. Payton did not leave New Orleans. He brought New Orleans with him. He knows how he wants this team to look — he did not trade for Wilson, he inherited him — and is left to apply bleach to a mess created by four previous coaches in seven years.
Payton is known as a coach, one who could have lived forever in the snapshot of his Super Bowl win. In Denver he must become known as an architect. He is uncompromising in what he wants from his players. It’s why he jettisoned underwhelming edge rushers Randy Gregory and Frank Clark so quickly.
Payton has a type. He wants tough, smart, talented players. Simmons fits that profile, but his salary did not. The safety became a casualty of his contract, and a team that desperately needs to reconfigure its assets.