When the New Orleans Saints hosted free agent safety Justin Simmons, the Atlanta Falcons and their fans watched with envy as the top available free agent in the second wave of free agency goes to help bolster an already loaded Saints secondary. There was just one problem: New Orleans allowed the four-time Second-Team All-Pro to leave.
According to Ian Rapoport, Simmons is visiting the Falcons facility on Monday and Tuesday to test out the waters in Flowery Branch. Atlanta now has a chance to secure not just one, but two top-tier free agents, while swiping Simmons away from a hated divisional rival.
Last week was a dim one for the Falcons franchise as they lost safety Demarcco Hellams to a reported "significant amount of time" and third-round rookie Bralen Trice for the season to leg injuries in their game on Friday against the Miami Dolphins.
Losing two significant depth pieces is never a good place to be, but it did force general manager Terry Fontenot out of his comfort zone that he supposedly had with the 2024 roster. Signing Simmons would not be an end-all, be-all solution for the Falcons defense, but there is no doubt that it would be a step in the right direction for a team looking to contend for the playoffs in 2024.
Stealing him away from the Saints in the process would just be a nice bonus.
