• Atlanta Falcons pick-up safety Justin Simmons: The former Pro Bowler signed a one-year, $8 million contract with Atlanta on Thursday.
• New England Patriots have quite the quarterback competition on their hands: Rookie Drake Maye is starting to push Jacoby Brissett for the starting quarterback gig.
• Dominate fantasy football season with promo code PFF25: Unlock all of PFF's fantasy content and tools, including full access to the fantasy football mock draft simulator, for 25% off using promo code PFF25.
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
Atlanta Falcons sign free agent safety Justin Simmons
The Atlanta Falcons signed veteran safety Justin Simmons to a one-year, $8 million contract on Thursday.
Former Broncos Pro-Bowl safety Justin Simmons is signing a one-year, $8 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 15, 2024
The news comes less than 24 hours after the Falcons traded for four-time Pro Bowl EDGE Matthew Judon. Simmons’ first visit as a free agent came with the New Orleans Saints last week.
Simmons has been one of the best safeties in the NFL since entering the league. He’s earned an elite 90.0 PFF grade ver his 7,126 career snaps. He has also accounted for 60 combined interceptions and pass breakups in coverage while allowing just a 79.9 passer rating when targeted for his career.
Simmons and All-Pro Jessie Bates III (90.2 PFF grade last season) will be a formidable safety duo for a revamped Falcons defense in 2024.
New England Patriots quarterback competition heating up
Jacoby Brissett is still the favorite to be the New England Patriots Week 1 starting quarterback, but rookie first-round pick Drake Maye is making strides, according to head coach Jerod Mayo.
#Patriots HC Jerod Mayo says "the competition isn't over" for the starting quarterback job in Week 1.
Mayo said that Drake Maye has made strides, but he wants to see the whole operation be faster with Maye at QB.
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) August 16, 2024
Maye played just six snaps in the Patriots’ preseason opener last week against the Carolina Panthers. He played more Friday night (24 snaps) against the Philadelphia Eagles and was impressive throwing the ball, earning an 81.5 PFF passing grade with two big-time throws in just 11 attempts. Brissett did not have a strong showing in his three drives, going three-and-out twice and throwing an interception in the red zone on the other.
Brissett has proven to be a capable quarterback in recent years, starting games for the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. The best season of his career came in 2022 with Cleveland/ He made a career-high 18 big-time throws on just 369 attempts, earning an 82.6 PFF overall grade in the process.
Denver Broncos starting Bo Nix at quarterback in Sunday’s preseason game
The Denver Broncos will be starting rookie quarterback Bo Nix in Sunday’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
The #Broncos will start rookie Bo Nix in Sunday night's preseason game against the #Packers, giving him a great opportunity to potentially lock up the QB1 spot. He will be followed by Jarrett Stidham and then Zach Wilson. pic.twitter.com/g55iDEc6pP
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 16, 2024
Stidham was named the starter in the preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts but played just 12 snaps. Nix (39 snaps) and Zach Wilson (32 snaps) took most of the reps. Nix was the most impressive of the three, finishing the game with a 71.4 PFF grade. Nix completed 15-of-21 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, with the only big-time-throw of the game for Denver quarterbacks.
Nix has the opportunity to lock up the Broncos’ starting quarterback job with a strong showing Sunday against the Packers.
New Orleans Saints’ wide receiver Rashid Shaheed suffers toe or foot injury at practice
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed suffered an injury to his toe or foot at Friday’s practice, but head coach Dennis Allen wasn’t sure about the specifics of the injury when speaking to the media.
Dennis Allen said toe OR foot with Rashid Shaheed by the way. He wasn’t sure. That’s why it was written like that.
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) August 16, 2024
The severity of the injury is unknown at this point but it’s not a good sign for Shaheed, who was already recovering from a strained hamstring.
Shaheed is entering his third season and is expected to be the No. 2 option in the passing game behind Chris Olave. Last season, Shaheed caught 46-of-71 targets for 719 yards and five touchdowns. His 69.0 PFF grade ranked 54th out of 128 qualifying receivers.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.