The NFL’s salary cap is expected to be set between $180-$181 million this offseason. If the cap is set exactly at $180.5 million, a franchise tag for a safety would be worth $10.496 million, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com.
If the Denver Broncos want to place a tag on Justin Simmons, their cost would be higher because Simmons was already tagged last year. To tag Simmons, Denver would have to give him 120% of the 2020 tag, as The Denver Post‘s Ryan O’Halloran pointed out on Twitter.
So tagging Simmons again this year would cost $13.729 million.
Simmons earned $11.441 million last year. The Broncos made him a long-term offer believed to be somewhere between $11.5-$13.75 million. Simmons likely wanted a salary closer to $14.6 million, which was the highest average salary for a safety last offseason.
The highest average salary for a safety this year is $14.75 million, which is about $1 million more than what it could cost in 2021 to tag Simmons.
After releasing cornerback A.J. Bouye, the Broncos have an estimated $31.2 million in available salary cap space. Denver general manager George Paton could increase that total by making additional cap-saving moves, such as parting ways with defensive lineman Jurrell Casey ($11.681 million). If he’s not tagged or given an extension by March 17, Simmons will become an unrestricted free agent.
Leave a Reply