Much has been made and will continue to be made about Justin Simmons being unsigned this late into the NFL offseason once again. The former Denver Broncos star out of Boston College had to wait until the end of the summer to sign on with the Atlanta Falcons. While Simmons was fine in Atlanta, all signs have pointed to the Dirty Birds passing on bringing him back after one season.
So what does this mean for the former All-Pro in Denver? Could he potentially return to the Mile High City? It is not an impossibility, but keep in mind that the Broncos just used a first-round pick on former Texas star cornerback Jahdae Barron back in April. The other big thing is Sean Payton is still the Broncos head coach. He was the one who decided to let Simmons walk in his free agency last spring.
I have wrote about this before, citing the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers as potential landing spots for Simmons. Philadelphia employs Simmons' former Broncos head coach in Vic Fangio as its defensive coordinator. I threw Green Bay into the mix because the Packers could use some more help on the back-end of their defense. Plus, Jeff Hafley used to lead Boston College.
What if I told you there are at least three other teams who could have interest in signing Simmons?
Where could former Broncos/Falcons safety Justin Simmons sign?
While appearing on Up & Adams, Simmons told host Kay Adams that "it would be special" for him to sign with either Philadelphia, the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati Bengals. Keep in mind Simmons mentioned those three teams by name weeks before the 2025 NFL Draft. Buffalo drafted Maxwell Hairston out of Kentucky high. Cincinnati could be a candidate, but they have other issues to address.
So while teams like Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver, Green Bay and Philadelphia have been tied to Simmons for the last several weeks, ESPN's Matt Bowen threw out one more that I could would be fascinating. He said the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be the best bet to land Simmons. This would be another great way for the Falcons to fall asleep at the wheel and let rival go to their biggest threat.
In short, I do not expect for Simmons to put pen to paper and sign with his next team soon. It will probably be closer to training camp. Simmons may be on the wrong side of 30, but he can still be a productive player in this league. I think it will be key to temper expectations when it comes to him joining a new team. He can be an impactful player, but his days of being an All-Pro are mostly over.
I would argue Philadelphia is still the team to beat to land him, but Tampa Bay may be a close second.