With the Colts having major question marks at the safety position, the top free-agent option is now off the board.
According to Tom Pelissero, Justin Simmons is signing a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons worth $8 million.
The #Falcons aren’t done working on the D: Two-time Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons is signing with Atlanta on a one-year, $8 million deal, per @AthletesFirst. pic.twitter.com/QHWm708SZB
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 15, 2024
Simmons would have been a nice complement to current strong safety Julian Blackmon, sliding right into the free safety role for the Colts.
Simmons is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Broncos, ranking as one of the better run defenders at the position by PFF’s grading system, along with having terrific ball production during his career, with 30 pass breakups and 30 interceptions.
After battling inconsistency at the safety position in 2023, the Colts opted not to make an outside addition at the position this offseason–instead banking on the internal development of Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas.
However, with the regular season just a few weeks away now, there are still unknowns at the free safety position.
Throughout training camp, we’ve seen Cross, Thomas, and Ronnie Harrison all take snaps at free safety. The Colts are even experimenting with moving Blackmon to the deep safety role, one year after he had a career year playing closer to the line of scrimmage.
As of now, it looks like Cross is the front-runner to be starting at free safety, and in that role, had a solid performance in the preseason opener against Denver. However, making that level of play the norm rather than the outlier is going to be the challenge.
Prior to training camp beginning, GM Chris Ballard mentioned that he wasn’t opposed to making an outside addition, but first wanted to see how things played out. But at this point, with Simmons and several other safeties having been signed over the last few weeks, options are low in that regard.
