The Denver Broncos put the franchise label on the safety of Justin Simmons for the second straight season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.
Simmons, who was on the verge of becoming an unrestricted free agent, becomes the first player to be tagged this offseason. The Broncos now have until July 15 to establish a long-term deal.
“Justin is one of our core guys, and our goal since I got here was to sign a long-term deal for him,” Broncos general manager George Paton said Thursday. “We’ve had good discussions with his agent. I don’t know if we’ll get a deal or not, but that’s our goal. He’s the kind of guy we’d like to expand on.”
NFL teams have until March 9 at 4 p.m. to put the franchise label on their most valuable player.
Simmons, the Broncos ’third-round pick in the 2016 draft, played the franchise player label in 2020, valued at $ 11.4 million. He finished with 96 innings and five interceptions. It was his third consecutive season of 90 attacks. He has been a constantly active player in running defense on the battle line with the versatility of combining with a variety of covering players.
Simmons, 27, has the combination of on-field performance and off-field community engagement as he has played every defensive detail for each of the last three seasons and was named a Broncos candidate last season for Walter. Payton. Man of the Year Award.
When Paton was hired in January, Broncos football operations president John Elway said trying to re-sign Simmons was “one of the most important things” Paton had on his to-do list.
Simmons has consistently been one of the most active actors in the community and one of the team’s leading voices in social justice initiatives.
He has won the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award, given by the Denver chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America each season to the Broncos player for recognizing professionalism and depth in media interactions. Simmons is the only three-time winner of the award since it began in 2006.
ESPN’s Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.