When the Atlanta Falcons signed Justin Simmons just weeks before the 2024 NFL season kicked off, Falcons fans had extremely high hopes. Simmons was an All-Pro safety for the Denver Broncos the year before, and pairing him up with Jessie Bates III was expected to be the league's best safety duo.
However, this never happened. Just like everything else during the Raheem Morris era in Atlanta, the Simmons signing crashed and burned. His 62 total tackles marked his lowest total since his rookie year, while he failed to help the defense generate takeaways, logging a measly two interceptions.
In fact, Simmons' season with the Dirty Birds was so had that he hasn't played since... and he never will again. The four-time All-Pro is reportedly announcing his retirement from the NFL after nine seasons, and his career couldn't have possibly ended on a worse note, so it's a sad story for a guy who was one of the best in the game.
Former Atlanta Falcons' safety Justin Simmons is retiring from the NFL
If you ask me, the Falcons really failed this guy. Not only was Jimmy Lake one of the worst defensive coordinators I have ever seen with my own two eyes (thank god for Jeff Ulbrich), the Atlanta defenses that Simmons were a part of were some of the least talented units I've had the displeasure of seeing.
During his time in Denver, Simmons was elite in large part because he was always surrounded by an elite supporting cast. But it wasn't until he left Atlanta that their defense started to improve. if it wasn't for him, safety wouldn't have been a need to the point they felt the need to trade up for Xavier Watts.
Bates and A.J. Terrell were the only other Pro Bowl-level talents the 2024 Falcons had on defense, but even without them he'd definitely lost a step. In 2022 he tied for the league lead in interceptions in just 12 games. From 2019 until 2023, he was the most dynamic ball-hawking safety in the league.
And his replacement, Watts is developing into a future star. He tied for second in the NFL in interceptions and finished as a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist. He's putting up Simmons numbers despite being nearly a decade younger than the 2016 third-rounder from Boston College.
The two-time Pro Bowler has 32 career interceptions, nearly 700 total tackles, and 71 passes defensed. So even though Simmons never really yielded the results Falcons fans expected, we should still be grateful for his time in Atlanta and wish him well as he ventures into retirement.
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