Justin Simmons wants the Eagles, but do the Eagles want him?

Vic Fangio isn’t for everybody. You can see it recently: the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles loved playing for him, and the 2023 Dolphins despised everything about him. The 2024 Eagles had the best defense in the NFL, and the 2023 Dolphins were in the bottom half. 

Buying into the Fangio scheme is definitely an aspect of how well the defense plays. That’s why the situation with free-agent safety Justin Simmons is so interesting. He played his best football with Vic Fangio, and apparently, he wants to be an Eagle… Unfortunately for him, the team doesn’t necessarily need him anymore.

Should the Eagles be as interested in Justin Simmons as he is in them?

Earlier this week, the NFL Network did a segment on some bigger-named unsigned free agents, and where they could go. Justin Simmons' name came up and, for the second year in a row, the overwhelming thought was that he could go to Philadelphia to be reunited with Vic Fangio. 

Brian Baldinger, a guy who is very locked in on the Eagles and pretty much the entire NFL, went out of his way to say, “It’s not just a reunion with Justin Simmons and Vic Fangio… he wants to be there. He wants to come to Philly. Just find him a house in South Jersey. He’s gonna be here, he’ll be fine.”

It makes sense that Simmons wants to be an Eagle. The main reason is that it means he gets a paycheck. The guy is currently unemployed. So yeah, it makes a whole lot of sense that he wants to be on a football team. 

Another reason is that, as a player, he hit the highest of highs with Vic Fangio. They were both with the Broncos from 2019 to 2021, and in those three years, Simmons was an All-Pro safety twice and a Pro-Bowler once. He was really, really good. 

I’m sure Justin Simmons would like to have a job, and he would like his boss to be the boss he was the most successful with. That absolutely makes sense.

As for the Eagles, they certainly could use the help at Safety. Right now, there’s Reed Blankenship on one side, and then Sydney Brown, Drew Mukuba, Lewis Cine, or Tristan McCollum on the other side.

A four-man battle for a starting safety position is a good thing, but three of those four guys (Brown, Mukuba, and Cine) have different levels of unknown factors.

Sydney Brown was deep on the depth chart last season. Maybe it was because he’s bad, maybe it’s because he wasn’t fully healthy from the ACL that he tore at the end of the 2023 season, or maybe it’s a combination of both. The Eagles drafted him in the third round of the 2023 draft, so it’s probably fair to say that they liked him — but it wasn’t Fangio that drafted him, so maybe he’s not a good fit for the defense. 

The Eagles picked up Lewis Cine in the postseason last year, and Drew Mukuba is a rookie. Those two guys haven’t had much or any time in Fangio’s defense.

McCollum got playing time behind C.J. Gardner-Johnson last year, but he wasn’t all that good. It’s not exactly comforting that the battle for the spot might come down to him and the rookie, unless one of them really blows everyone’s pants off over the summer. 

It would make sense for the Eagles to sign Simmons. He knows the defense and he’s done well in it… But that was a looooong time ago in the NFL world. In 2021, Simmons was 28 years old, going into his sixth season in the NFL, and in the prime of his career. 

Now, he’s 31 years old (turning 32 by Thanksgiving), going into his 10th season in the NFL, and very much out of his prime. Take it for what it’s worth, but PFF rated him 113 out of 171 safeties last season. For reference, the rated Blankenship 25th and C.J.G.J. 21st.

So, should the Eagles be as interested in Simmons as Simmons is in them? The Eagles are already set for a strong training camp competition, but adding a veteran like Simmons to the mix would probably be beneficial because he’s got a different background than the other four guys. On the other hand, he costs money. That money is the exact thing that Simmons needs, and it’s the exact thing the Eagles aren’t in the business of just throwing away.

The answer is no, but the Eagles should still be interested in him. For Simmons, this would be a perfect situation. For the Eagles, Simmons would be a luxury they should only buy if the price is right.