Per Field Yates:
Simmons’s contract table can be found beyond the fold:
| Season | Base Salary | Prorated Bonus | Cap Number |
| 2021 | $2,000,000 | $3,750,000 | $5,750,000 |
| 2022 | $15,100,000 | $3,750,000 | $18,850,000 |
| 2023 | $14,400,000 | $3,750,000 | $18,150,000 |
| 2024 | $14,500,000 | $3,750,000 | $18,250,000 |
It was reported that Simmons’s guarantees in his contract are $35 million. Obviously, his $15 million signing bonus is part of that. Guessing that his 2021 and 2022 base salaries are also guaranteed, that gets the sum to $32.1 million. Whether the remaining $2.9 million is contained as part of Simmons’s 2023 base salary, and whether or not it is fully guaranteed, or one that will vest at a later date, is to be determined, and that is why I am not yet adding estimates on what would happen with the cap dollars if a transaction is executed on Simmons’s contract. However, this contract looks to be a standard two year commitment, with the flexibility for two more years after that.
UPDATE: Aaron Wilson has confirmed that the remainder of Simmons’s guarantee is indeed $2.9 million in 2023 base salary that is injury only but vests to full on the 5th day of the 2022 league year. While this is money that is not officially fully guaranteed, due to the major cost it would incur to cut Simmons after only one season, for practical purposes the $35 million in guarantees is as full as it comes.
As far as the three key metrics I identified go when I took a look at hypothetical contract for Simmons, he has done well. I had his maximum potential APY at $15.5 million, and he got just below that at $15.25 million. I had maximum full guarantees at $32 million, and he at least practically matched that at $32.1 million, and may have surpassed it. Maximum cash flows that I had in the first three years were $24 million, $34 million, and $48 million. Simmons ceded some ground on money earned in Year 1, at only $17 million, but comes much closer in the next two years at $32.1 million and $46.5 million.
This contract is not a bargain, and Simmons deserves credit for sticking to his guns and earning a top dollar deal. But the Broncos also deserve credit for not going overboard, and making sure they secured a core part of their defense for the long term with a fair deal that just nudges the top of the safety market a little higher.