NFL’s highest paid safety: Broncos’ Justin Simmons gets a four-year, $61 million deal.
At the Broncos’ facility Friday morning to sign his three-year contract, defensive end Shelby Harris was talking to receiver Courtland Sutton in the locker room when word broke of safety Justin Simmons agreeing to a fouryear deal.
For the second time in a week, new general manager George Paton had rewarded an in-house player.
“I was just talking about it with (Sutton) — this is big for him, big for (outside linebacker Bradley) Chubb and all the young guys,” Harris said. “It shows that if you go out there and ball, the Broncos will take care of you. That’s the culture change we’re talking about.”
Simmons’ $61 million contract carries an average of $15.25 million and eclipses Arizona’s Budda Baker ($14.25 million average) for most among NFL safeties. According to ESPN, the guaranteed money is $35 million.
“Justin is the highest-paid safety and that’s what he deserves,” Harris said. “You go out there and play and they will give you what you deserve. That’s the right message you want to send to your players.”
Chubb and Sutton, 2018 firstand second-round draft picks, respectively, are eligible for contract extensions and Harris is right — they should take the contracts signed by him, Simmons and left tackle Garett Bolles last November as good news for their futures.
Simmons, 27, played last year on the franchise tag, opting for the one-year, bet-on-himself strategy instead of signing a deal he felt was below his market. All he did in 2020 was lead the Broncos with five interceptions to go with 96 tackles while playing every defensive snap for the third consecutive year. He was named to his first Pro Bowl.
A third-round pick from Boston College in 2016, Simmons became a full-time starter a year later and has 373 tackles and 16 interceptions in 74 games.
In a statement, Paton said Simmons, “is the complete package as both an elite player for the Broncos and a leader in our community. As a free safety, Justin has every tool you need to be the best. He is a smart, instinctive play-maker who can cover a lot of ground with his athletic ability. Justin’s a great fit for our defense and with the speed of today’s game — especially in our division — he is exactly what you need in a safety.”
Simmons was one of three safeties to be tagged earlier this month (New Orleans’ Marcus Williams and the New York Jets’ Marcus Maye) and the first of that trio to sign a long-term deal. It will also give the Broncos’ salary cap flexibility since his anticipated $13.729 million tag salary will be reduced as the guaranteed money is spread out over the life of the contract.
As the final details of Simmons’ deal was being hammered out inside the facility and a press conference was being held for defensive end Shelby Harris (who stayed with the Broncos via three-year contract), the attention had moved onto the next possibility: Chicago Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller.
Fuller played four years in Chicago when Broncos coach Vic Fangio was the Bears’ defensive coordinator, including a breakout 2018 when he had seven interceptions and was named All-Pro.
But the Bears didn’t cooperate. On the league’s official transaction report, released to clubs around 3 p.m. Denver time, Fuller wasn’t listed as being released.
One NFL executive said the delay could be providing time for Chicago to find a trade partner for Fuller (like Las Vegas did earlier this week with center Rodney Hudson and guard Gabe Jackson) or even attempting a last-gasp restructure to lower his $20 million cap number.
The Broncos have single picks in rounds 4-6 and three picks in the seventh round if they want to guarantee they get Fuller before he hits the market.
What would Fuller cost the Broncos as a free agent? The executive estimated his price would be $8 million to $10 million per year, which falls in line with new Denver cornerback Ronald Darby ($10 million average), Minnesota’s Patrick Peterson (one year, $10 million) and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Michael Davis (three years, $8.5 million average).
Signing Fuller, who has 19 interceptions and 390 tackles in 96 games (94 starts), would finish the Broncos’ cornerback room overhaul. Fuller and Darby would be every-down players and Bryce Callahan would be exclusively the nickel back covering the slot receiver.