Here's why Justin Simmons wants to remain a Bronco

Justin Simmons doesn’t want to wear any colors on the field but orange and blue. And football is just the beginning of his reasons why.

That is because his contributions to Colorado and the Broncos only start with what he does when he puts on his uniform. The two honors that came his way in the past week — the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee and the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award, given for cooperation with the media — show the degree to which Simmons has become the best public face of the franchise.

He had earned both honors before; it’s his second time getting the Payton nomination and his record third time receiving the Good Guy award. But the significance is greater now. He didn’t stop with an honor. Just as he does on the field, he built on being the best at his craft away from it.

Simmons is everything a team could ever want.

And he wants to be here, to take his community service, work with children and public activism to another level.

“It would mean everything to me [to stay],” he said. “I’ve built so many great relationships here, and I’ve built so many great relationships in the community. There are so many things that I care about here.

“It’s a no-brainer on my end that I love this place.”

He feels he same about his work environment.

“I love being here and I love my teammates. I know it’s been difficult times in terms of the win column here, but I truly believe there have been a lot of things that have been stacked against us in terms of injuries, guys missing time and not having a full roster.

“We’re just a couple pieces away from being right where everyone in Broncos Country is used to seeing the Broncos. I’ve been a part of that, and I’d like to be a part of that moving forward.”

There is little question that the continued presence in Vic Fangio’s scheme aids those efforts.

Simmons’ honors have piled up like interceptions — of which he has a team-leading 4 for a second consecutive season. He is one of just three Broncos this century with multiple seasons in which he picked off at least 4 passes; safety Champ Bailey and Deltha O’Neal are the others. Simmons is also the first Broncos safety with back-to-back campaigns of 4-plus interceptions since Tyrone Braxton in 1995-96.

This season might be his most impressive, not just because of his own play, but because of the extra responsibilities shouldered by Simmons and fellow safety Kareem Jackson due to the mountain of cornerback injuries. A.J. Bouye and Bryce Callahan have missed a combined nine games due to injuries and, now, Bouye’s 6-game PED suspension that will carry over into next year. Slot cornerback Essang Bassey will end up sitting out four games due to a torn ACL. Backup cornerbacks Kevin Toliver and Duke Dawson are also out with torn ACLs incurred last Sunday in Carolina.

If Callahan does not return from injured reserve in the next two-and-a-half weeks, the Broncos will end up playing nearly one-third of their season — five of 16 games — without their starting-cornerback duo.

Simmons — along with Jackson — is helping pick up the slack.

“We’ve lost five corners in the last two weeks, and those two guys have been the steady influence factor,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said. “They have not only played their position well, but they’ve had a great leadership for the rest of the guys back there in talking to them during the game, during the week, in between series. They’ve both done a great job in helping out those young guys and new guys that are playing because of those injuries.”

Simmons’ contract situation has been the center of most discussions regarding his status over the past 12 months. First, there was the storyline of whether he would get a long-term deal or a franchise tag. Then, after the Broncos tagged him, there was a four-month period in which proposals were discussed, but no contract materialized. That made Simmons the first player tagged by the Broncos to not receive a multi-year deal since John Elway assumed control of the team’s football operations in 2011.

Now, the Broncos and Simmons sit where they were at this time last year — albeit in a different landscape. Simmons has stacked a second elite season atop of his 2019 performance. The salary cap could drop by up to $23.2 million for 2021 due to revenues lost in the COVID-19 pandemic; if it falls to its potential floor of $175 million, its lowest figure since 2017.

The Broncos and Simmons cannot work on a new contract during the season; that is part of the terms of receiving the franchise tag. But the work is likely to be furious when February arrives.

A second franchise tag is an option for the Broncos — especially with Garett Bolles signed to a four-year contract. However, it is not an ideal one unless it is a way of buying more time to work out a long-term contract. That was the case for the Dallas Cowboys and Demarcus Lawrence in 2019; the sides agreed on a five-year contract 32 days after placing the second tag on the two-time Pro Bowler.

Simmons has avoided public discussion of these matters in recent months; he wants to keep the focus on the season, the field and his play.

But for reasons that begin in football and extend to every aspect of his deep involvement in charitable and public-service efforts in Colorado, he wants nothing more than to stay.

“It would mean everything,” he said.