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March 7, 2024 12 mins
On this episode of "Broncos Now," Sydney Jones and Aric DiLalla discuss the Broncos’ plan to release both safety Justin Simmons and quarterback Russell Wilson. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to leave a rating and review.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, Broncos Country.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome back to the Broncos podcast network and YouTube for
the latest episode of Broncos Now. As we're hearing your
host Sidney Jones, and coming up on today's episode, Broncos
lead writer Eric Delala joins the show. We'll discuss some
of the moves the Broncos plan to make as the.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
New league year begins next week. All that more coming up.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Joining me here in the Broncos podcast studio for today's
episode of Broncos Now is Broncos lead writer Eric Delali. Eric,
thanks for joining the show. Welcome back to the podcast studio.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Thanks Sid, happy to be back.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Happy to be back to How are things?

Speaker 3 (00:33):
They're good, Sid.

Speaker 4 (00:34):
It's a little bit of a tough week around here,
some big moves being made, but I think as Sean
Payton and George Peyton have said, they're focused on improving
in twenty twenty four and getting this franchise back to
where it needs to be and sometimes said that requires
making tough decisions.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, like you said, Eric.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Some big news coming out of the team headquarters today
Thursday morning. The team announced that they are planning to
release safety at Justin Simmons eight years here with the
organization back when he was drafted in twenty sixteen. Obviously
made an immense impact on and off the field. We're
gonna miss him end of Venia.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, that's my guy.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
He came in within a week of each other, same
draft class. Jokingly said that to him many times. Just
an all around good guy. First of all, made a
huge impact in the community as a Walter Payton Man
of the Year three time nominee, won the Darren Williams
Good Guy Award for his cooperation with the media again
and again. Was just always kind of that guy who

(01:31):
after a tough loss would stand up and talk for
this team. He would keep people positive. He was a
just kind of that positive force within the locker room
for years and years and years. And on the field,
great player, four time All Pro selection, two time Pro bowler,
had a bunch of interceptions, tied for the league lead
in interceptions a couple of seasons ago.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Just a heck of a football player.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Unfortunately, sid Well he had the chance to learn from
some great players early in his career. He'd never enjoyed
that team success and it certainly wasn't wasn't his fault.
I mean this defense has been really good for a
long time now, many of those seasons among the top
of the league, but the team just didn't have that success.
He of course did not make the playoffs with the organization,
which is tough to see.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
And so sending Justin Simmons.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
Out the right way, you know, the team thanked his family,
thanked him for all his time in the community and
for his on field accomplishments. It'll always be a Bronco.
But unfortunately, you talk about some of the moves that
are required when this is a business, the salary cap situation.
This felt like one of those decisions, and so Justin
Simmons will be moving on.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, Eric, it seems like a lot of the fans
are wondering if you're going to make this move, you know,
why not go ahead and trade him?

Speaker 1 (02:42):
So what do you think really just went into this decision.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, it's a far fair question. I think.

Speaker 4 (02:48):
You know, certainly at some point you hope to hear
from George Peyton Sean Payton about the specifics of the move.
I don't know if that'll be when free agency begins,
if it'll be later on down when we're at the
annual league meetings. Said at the end of March, but
at some point I'm sure that question will be asked.
And I think surface level and what you've seen from
some reporters out there is just there's been so many
safeties that have been released, and so many top safeties

(03:11):
still at a high level in their game. It feels
like maybe there's a little bit of an adjustment to
that market. And so when there's so many options out
there and so much demand, I would imagine that it's
hard to get a trade done. And again that's just
speculation at this point, but for fans asking that, that
seems like an explanation that makes sense. Just that there's
there's a lot of safeties out there makes it harder
to get a trade done.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, like you said, Eric, a lot of safeties have
hit the.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Market recently, a lot of DB's in the free agent
market right now in general, What do you think moving
forward about this safety room that we have here with
PJ Lock and Cayden Sterns.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Do you think they'll look to add to that or Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
Well, obviously if you want PJ Lock to come back,
you got to resign him. So that could be a
priority potentially in free agency We'll have to see how
they approach that. Cayden Sterns still under contract. He's got
to show that he can be healthy and I'm sure
that'll be probably a primary goal for him this year
because when he's out on the field, tremendous player, but
got to remain available and then yeah, you'll see if

(04:08):
you can get PJ locked back. Is he a guy
that you feel comfortable starting there because of how many
guys are out on the open market?

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Do you target a guy initially?

Speaker 4 (04:17):
Do you wait for things to settle down and then
you know, find a maybe that second year or second wave,
third wave option there at safety and bring in a
veteran that could be a choice. Obviously, the Broncos have
some young guys with the Laryn Turner yell j L.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Skinner.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Is it a chance for one of those guys to
take a step forward. We didn't see Skinner get much
action at all last year, but I know the Broncos
were high on him. I thought he was a higher
round talent than where he was drafted and just fell
due to injury. So that'll be one of the spots
where it'll be interesting to see how the Broncos approach things,

(04:55):
and it's really a spot where you might have to
figure out two solutions, right and for so it's just been, hey,
you know, Justin Simmons is going to be that guy,
and then who's next to him? And Kareem Jackson have
been brought back a couple of times on one year deals,
but this could be a situation where maybe you decide
you need two new safeties, maybe you don't. Maybe you
bring PJ Lock back you don't need any new safeties,

(05:17):
But that'll be an interesting position to watch to be sure.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Definitely, Eric and other news, The Broncos also announced earlier
this week that they're planning to release quarterback Russell Wilson. First,
before we get into that, I want to read the
statement that general manager George Payton and head coach Sean
Payton put out.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
They said, we spoke with Russell Wilson today.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
This was on Monday, to inform him of the release
after the start of the league year on behalf of
the Broncos. We thank Russell for his contributions and a
dedication to our team and community, while wishing him the
best as he continues his career. As we move forward,
we are focused on building the strongest team possible for
the twenty twenty four season and beyond. We are excited
to improve this offseason, and we'll have the flexibility to

(05:55):
get better through the draft and a free agency eric
as the team move forward here, you know, what, do
you think their plans are for the quarterback position.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
Then yes, it'll be interesting obviously moving forward without Russell Wilson,
Jared Stidham, Ben Denucci both under contract. We saw Jared
Stidham start those final two games of the year last year,
did some good things. He said at the end of
the year that he's hopeful he has a chance to
prove he can be the starter. So I think it
starts there with that group of who's in the building currently. Obviously,

(06:25):
free agency comes next. We'll see do the Broncos decide
they want to add a veteran player. There's a lot
of noise right now about some potential big name quarterbacks
that could be released. We'll have to see if the
Broncos choose to go that direction. There's been some speculation externally,
maybe not enough salary cap space to make that sort
of thing happen, but certainly a lot of guys that

(06:47):
you could look at that could add to the quarterback
room potentially, and then you get to the draft, right,
and that's maybe I think where people are most excited
externally if you're a fan, you know, media about the
possibilities just because there's a lot of quarterbacks in this
class that could potentially go in the first round. We
still have a month and a half to go, and

(07:08):
so there's all this chatter about who's going to trade up,
who's going to trade back, will this guy be there
at twelve? Do you need to go up to get him?
All those sorts of things. It's what makes this time
of year fun. And I certainly think following this news
that the Broncos have decided to part ways with Russell Wilson,
that you can put the Broncos firmly in that mix
of at least a team to talk about as somebody
that could take a quarterback. And I said, we had

(07:30):
the chance to talk to him last week at the
Combine and it was just interesting to start to get
to know these guys and hear a little bit from them.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, Eric, you mentioned you talked to some of the
Rocky quarterbacks at the Combine. What did some of them
have to say about their meetings with the Broncos last week.

Speaker 4 (07:43):
Yeah, I think it's just interesting to hear, you know,
what specifics do some guys give you, And certainly people
pointed out, hey, Davis Webb was involved, Yeah, Gol Lombardi
was involved. Actually kind of sounded like Sean Payton. Let
Davis Webb, the quarterbacks coach, lead a lot of these meetings,
which is interesting. Michael Pennix from Washington, So the Broncos

(08:03):
pulled up some of his bad plays and had him
watch those and talk through those things.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
Maybe a little bit of a test there.

Speaker 4 (08:10):
And I think the overall consensus from all these guys,
and of course they're going to say this, but the
meetings went well. And JJ McCarthy for Michigan said it
would be an honor to play for a guy like
Sean Payton. I think we heard that consistently from a
variety of different players, whether it was Jane Daniels from LSU,
Michael Pratt from Tulane, I mean a lot of different

(08:32):
guys who have said a plan for a guy like
Sean Payton would be tremendous and we'll just have to
see what happens. But it just gives you kind of
that first taste of okay, okay, everything matters right, and
the film and throwing on the field and the athleticism
and the height and the size and all that. And
I think part of that too is how do you
carry yourself? And teams get a chance to see that

(08:53):
in these meetings, And we learned that they had meetings
with about all these guys, but for media, for us,
the chance to see these guys is at that podium,
and so just to get a little bit of insight
into whether it's their competitiveness or how they handle themselves
with the press. It's not everything, but it gives you
maybe another puzzle piece.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Was there anyone that kind of stood out to you specifically?

Speaker 4 (09:14):
Well, I mean, I would say the guys that are
gaining a lot of traction, it seems like nationally being
tied to the Broncos are JJ McCarthy and Bonicks And
you know, who knows how much of that is a
smoke screen. Is that other team saying hey, we want
the Broncos to be connected to these guys so we
can go get our guy. Do we want the Broncos
to have to trade up to get one of these guys.
Are the Broncos putting that out there so that their

(09:36):
real desire is not found out?

Speaker 3 (09:39):
Do they actually like these guys?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
I mean, that's the fun part of this time of
year too, is you don't know what the heck is.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
True and what's a huge lie. And so.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
That is kind of the chatter right now that Bonis
and JJ McCarthy are kind of the guys that are
that could be available, could be good value in that range.
I think during the Combine we heard a lot of
chatter that JJ McCarthy could be gone much earlier, that
Jaydon Daniels could fall a little bit, that Drake May
could fall fall a little bit. We saw some talk
before the Combine that the Broncos could trade all the

(10:10):
way up to two to get a guy like Drake May.
So probably the one guy that I didn't hear anything
about her that you didn't see a lot of connections
to as Caleb Williams. I think there's a consensus right
now that he's probably gonna go to Chicago. But the
rest of the guys, I mean, it's just a matter
of who do you like, and more importantly, who do
Sean Payton and George Peyton like, and I don't think they're.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
Going to let anybody know that until Draft night.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Well, Eric, it was a busy week here, should be
another one next week with the start of free agency too,
so a lot of things coming up the next couple
of weeks.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how the Broncos approached this. Obviously,
legal tampering begins next Monday. Free agency starts at two
pm Mountain time on Wednesday, that's when you can officially
sign guys, and we'll have to see what the what
the Broncos do. George Peyton said they won't be as
active as they were last year, But do they still
go get one big name guy or do they truly

(11:03):
stay quiet the whole week and then wait till things
quiet down a little bit. It'll just be interesting, and
I think you'll get a sense over the coming days
if the Broncos do end up making more roster moves,
or if they don't and they keep some guys and
then sign players next week, it'll be an indication of
maybe where this team is heading into the draft, both

(11:25):
in terms of how they're going to be able to
compete in twenty twenty four and as George and Sean
both said that and beyond is key right that this
team has got to find a way to be more
consistently successful and this is an exciting time and important
time of year to get that done.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
It certainly is well.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Eric, appreciate you joining the show today and for your
insight always you got it, said, well it's going to
do it for today's episode of Broncos Now Broncos Country.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Thanks so much for tuning in.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Meet you right back here on the Broncos podcast network
and YouTube next week for a new episode.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
I will see you all then,
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