Fangio Makes Cryptic Remark Hinting at S Justin Simmons' Future in Denver

The Denver Broncos are still basking in the satisfying glow of their third victory of the season, one day removed from defeating the Cleveland Browns 24-19 at home. Instrumental in the victory for Denver was fourth-year safety Justin Simmons.

Simmons totaled eight combined tackles (six solo) and got in on a couple of key pass break-ups as well. He was once again a dynamo on Vic Fangio's defense, playing 75 snaps which represented 100% of the time the unit was on the field.

But as fans have watched Simmons excel this season, it's felt bittersweet because he's playing in a contract year and his future in Denver is murky. With how much money the Broncos already have tied up in Simmons' counterpart, Kareem Jackson, plus with CB Chris Harris, Jr. also poised to be a free agent, from a law of averages standpoint, the Broncos can't afford to pay everyone in the secondary top dollar.

And through the first half of the season, Simmons has proved that he can and will command top dollar on the open market. He originally joined the team in the first draft following Super Bowl 50 as a third-round pick out of Boston College.

Simmons has been a starter since 2017 and has clearly, most evidently, turned a corner. He is currently Pro Football Focus' highest-graded safety through nine weeks, standing with an insanely high 90.8 mark from the NFL's leading analytics site.

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Could it be that the Broncos are already working on putting an offer together to keep Simmons in Denver? That would only be speculation on our part, but on Monday following the win over Cleveland, Fangio at least made it sound like Simmons is in the team's future plans when answering a question on whether he 'liked' him coming out of college back in 2016 when the coach was still with the Chicago Bears.

“That’s a good question," Fangio said. "I don’t remember, but I do like him now. I’ve liked him early on from getting here. I do like Justin, I think he’s a really good player and I see a bright future for him in a Broncos uniform.”

One thing we know for sure; the longer the Broncos wait to get Simmons locked up, if indeed he is in their future plans, the more expensive he's going to get. He's a natural in Fangio's chaos-inducing defensive scheme and a perfect fit for the type of coverage demands the free safety position has in the system.

The highest-paid safety in the league right now is Tennessee's Kevin Byard, who's bringing in a cool $14.1 million per year, following closely by Washington's Landon Collins at $14M. Kareem Jackson is currently the fifth-highest paid safety, earning an annual average of $11M.

The Broncos will seriously have to ask themselves how many salary cap dollars they're willing to tie up in the secondary alone. Just taking Jackson's salary and adding that of CB Bryce Callahan's, which is another $7M, that's already approaching $20M on just two players.

And then there's the aforementioned Harris, who has said multiple times that he's looking to become the highest-paid cornerback in the league next spring. With Bradley Chubb still a few years out from getting paid and young, cheap players across the defense, like Alexander Johnson, Malik Reed, Justin Hollins, Josey Jewell and Mike Purcell, maybe the Broncos could find a way to pay both Chris Harris, Jr. and Simmons.

If the team does end up parting ways with the vastly overpaid Joe Flacco, it'll not only free up salary cap dollars next year but also put the Broncos in a cost-controlled situation at quarterback. Whether the team's 2020 starting QB is Brandon Allen or Drew Lock, or a future draft pick, that player is going to come on the relative cheap, which could allow the Broncos — in theory — to splurge elsewhere, like the secondary.

Simmons is a team leader, a hard worker and a consistent play-maker on the back-end of the Broncos defense. This team would be remiss to let him walk in free agency.

The franchise tag could be an option in the spring but don't be completely shocked if GM John Elway makes Simmons one of his rare in-season extensions.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.