According to Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline, he is hearing that the Broncos will Franchise Tag safety Justin Simmons if they are unable to sign him to an extension prior to the start of free agency.

Back on December 17, PFN Insider @AllbrightNFL said that if the #Broncos can't work out a long term deal with Justin Simmons, expect them to apply the franchise tag.



Now, PFN Insider @TonyPauline is hearing the same from the #ShrineGame practices.https://t.co/KJVqbftbQA — Pro Football Network (@PFN365) January 14, 2020

Benjamin Allbright said this about a month ago and now Pauline is hearing the same from people and sources at the East West Shrine game practices.

This really isn’t a surprise obviously as the Broncos were not going to let one of their young core members of their defense to freely hit the open market. However, it is nice to know that Justin Simmons isn’t going anywhere for at least one more year. I believe both sides will hammer out an extension keeping him a member of the Broncos for years to come.

Simmons was a preseason breakout candidate for the Broncos and he did just that in 2019. He played every single defense snap and totaled 93 tackles, 15 pass deflections and 4 interceptions during his first-year in Vic Fangio’s defense. I expect Simmons to be one of core members and leaders of this Broncos defense for years to come.

The deadline for the Broncos to place the Franchise Tag on Simmons is by 4 pm on March 10th. They will try to work on an extension between now and then before deciding whether or not to use the Franchise Tag. It is always possible for them to place the Franchise Tag on Simmons and work on an extension after that as well.

Either way, it’s nice to know that Justin Simmons isn’t going anywhere this offseason.