Free agent safety Justin Simmons met with the Saints in person on Wednesday, but it wasn’t the first time he had a conversation with the team.
Saints head coach Dennis Allen said that there was communication earlier in the offseason that ended with the two sides pretty far apart in terms of a deal. Allen said on Wednesday that things are “probably a little closer” at this point, but stopped well short of suggesting that a deal is in the works.
“This is a guy that has been a good player in our league for a long time,” Allen said, via Luke Johnson of NOLA.com. “He’s a player that has shown an interest in us. We’ve got some connections with him in terms of guys on our staff that have worked with him, guys that have played with him. . . . It’s a visit. He’s coming in and we’ll talk about how we see him, what type of vision that we have for him, and then if what we’re looking for and what he’s looking for match up, we’ll see if it goes further than that.”
Saints defensive coordinator Joe Woods and secondary coach Marcus Robertson both coached Simmons at points when he was with the Broncos. It remains to be seen if they’ll be working with him again in 2024.