Just In: Eagles has reach agreement with Broncos to sign 26-year old safety

The Eagles need a lot of help at the safety position, and Simmons is a veteran player with a connection to Philly’s new DC.

It’s no secret the Eagles desperately need some help at the safety position, and this seems to be the perfect off-season to address that deficiency. NFL teams have been dropping their top-talented safeties over the past few days, including Denver releasing All-Pro Justin Simmons.

Simmons, who was set to make $18.25M, was a cap casualty for the Broncos and will now hit the free agency market for the first time in his career.

The eight-year veteran was drafted by the Broncos in 2016, and has gone on to be one of the top safeties in the league. He’s a 4x All-Pro and 2x Pro Bowler, with an insane stat sheet that includes 604 total tackles, 64 passes defended, 30 interceptions (1 pick 6), 5 forced fumbles, and 4.5 sacks.

Aside from his on-field resume, Simmons was also notably a locker room leader and an active member in the Denver community.

Simmons being cut is the kind of move that will make other teams happy, but will draw anger from his teammates and even from players around the league.

The safety position is definitely getting a big shake up this offseason, with Simmons just one of the latest to hit the market. Simmons joins Jordan Poyer, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, Rayshawn Jenkins, Eddie Jackson, and Keanu Neal (failed physical), who have all been released by their teams over the past couple weeks.

The Eagles will assuredly look to bring in some young talent at the safety position, but they also really need some additional veteran experience in the secondary. Not to mention, as has been the case for nearly a decade and was highlighted once again in 2023, they really need depth in the backend, too.

With so many talented safeties hitting the market at the same time, there’s bound to be some valuation shifts, but Simmons would still be a great addition. Plus, he played for new Eagles’ DC Vic Fangio in Denver, and is someone who could come in and get to work right away.

Simmons opened up about his relationship with Fangio to The Inquirer back in February.

“I owe a lot of my success to Vic and his staff, because just the way they implemented their defense and made me learn the game in a whole new perspective,” the 30-year-old Simmons said before Friday’s practice at his second-career Pro Bowl appearance. “It was a whole new defense, it was a whole new way of learning. So Philadelphia’s got a great one.”