Broncos Cut All-Pro Safety Justin Simmons To Make Cap Space For Russell Wilson Release

The Denver Broncos cut veteran safety Justin Simmons Thursday in order to gain $14.5 million in cap space ahead of the 2024 season. Simmons has been with Denver since 2016 and made his second Pro Bowl appearance last season.

“Justin Simmons’ impact as a Denver Bronco extends far beyond his exceptional play during eight seasons with our organization,” the Broncos said in a statement. “Justin will always be a Bronco, and we thank him for the outstanding manner in which he represented our organization on and off the field. We wish Justin, his wife Taryn, and their children Laney, Shae and Kyler the very best in the future.”  

The Broncos selected Simmons in the third round of the 2016 draft out of Boston College. With limited playing time in his rookie season, he still secured two interceptions, 30 tackles and a sack, making an instant impact and eventually earning a starting role. He has earned at least two interceptions in every season since and has been named a Second-Team All-Pro four times.

With Simmons still playing at a high level, it is clear that he will find another team in need of veteran experience in its secondary. The Broncos did not part ways with Simmons out of a desire to move on, but out of financial necessity.

Denver is preparing to take a $35 million cap hit by releasing quarterback Russell Wilson, which means that front office officials have to part ways with expensive personnel they could have retained otherwise. Simmons is one such player being sacrificed.

When the Broncos traded with the Seahawks for Wilson, dealing away multiple players and a trove of draft picks, they believed that they were rebuilding their franchise with a ready-made star quarterback. Instead, the team was so bad under Wilson in 2022 that the organization had to give up even more draft picks to bring in new head coach Sean Payton to turn things around in 2023. The team didn’t improve nearly enough to reach contender status.

As Denver finally cuts bait and moves on from Wilson, more players like Simmons could get caught in the crosshairs as the team moves piece around. This could have a severe impact on the team’s future prospects, which have been increasingly low since the team’s Super Bowl runs in the mid-2010s.