The San Francisco 49ers boast one of the NFL’s most dominant and menacing defenses in the league.
Nick Bosa is one of the league’s most disruptive pass rushers, Fred Warner might be the premier linebacker in the sport, and the 49ers’ secondary is loaded with elite talent.
However, as the 2024 season looms, with San Francisco considered arguably the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, there is one free agent signing general manager John Lynch could make to add yet another difference maker to the 49ers’ secondary.
Could the San Francisco 49ers Add Justin Simmons?
The 49ers surged over the second half of the 2023 season and ultimately took Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs to overtime in the Super Bowl, but aim to hoist the Lombardi Trophy next February.
While San Francisco finished the 2023 season as the league’s top passing defense, adding a veteran playmaker like Justin Simmons could wind up being an ideal scheme fit with the four-time Second-Team All-Pro defender bringing serious veteran leadership to the Bay Area.
“I love the idea of Justin Simmons in either the Vic Fangio–style of defense he’s played in for the Broncos since 2019, or in a Seattle Seahawks–type of defense,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer recently wrote.
“That’s why I’d really love to see him as the center fielder in the Niners’ defense—which has historically played the Seattle three scheme, and also just brought aboard Brandon Staley (whom Simmons knows well) from the Fangio tree.”
Simmons produced 70 total tackles last season, en-route to Second-Team All-Pro honors, before being released by the Denver Broncos as a cap casualty earlier this offseason.
Boasting 603 career tackles with 42 interceptions, Simmons has the track record of a difference maker and would fit right in on a defense loaded with talent across the board.
Given that the 49ers’ Super Bowl window might inch closer to its conclusion in 2025, once the franchise pays Brock Purdy among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, pushing all the chips into the middle of the table and adding a player of Simmons’ caliber could be a move that puts San Francisco over the top in 2024.
