Mile High Morning: Justin Simmons, Broncos thrilled for Will Parks' return

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The Lead​

With Will Parks returning to Denver, the person most eager for the reunion may be Justin Simmons.


The two safeties were members of the same draft class in 2016, and over the previous four seasons, they grew closer as friends and teammates. In 2020, Parks' contract came to an end and he joined the Eagles as a free agent, but when Parks was waived by Philadelphia, the Broncos were eager to bring him back.


"It's great," Simmons said Thursday. "The last thing I remember is we played the Raiders at home last year in the final game of the season. We exchanged jerseys because it was a 'you never know what's going to happen' moment. You could be here next year, you could not, on both of our ends. That was special. This is a guy I came in with and spent a lot of time with. Unfortunate what happened in Philly, but selfishly, I'm really happy he's back here and having the opportunity to close out the season with us. He's a great player, and more importantly and selfishly for me, he's and even better friend. Having him around the past four years has been awesome. I'm excited for him to be back."


With cornerback Bryce Callahan now on injured reserve and safety Trey Marshall recuperating from a shin injury, Parks can help the defense in a variety of ways, Head Coach Vic Fangio said Thursday.


"Will's a guy that we liked," Fangio said. "He's versatile. We like him as a player. We like him as a person. I think he's excited to come back here and we'll see exactly how he fits in. Will played the nickel position for us last year, played the dime, he can play safety. One thing with losing Bryce, we've lost some versatility in our secondary because although Bryce had been playing corner the last few weeks exclusively, he can also play nickel, obviously. So, our nickel depth has gone down some, so we needed some versatility to bring back to replace Bryce. Coincidentally, Will got cut and he's a guy we like as a player and a person and like I said, I think he's excited to be back here."


That Parks was such a beloved figure in the locker room is just icing on the cake, Fangio added.


"It's a bonus," Fangio said. "Any time you pick up a guy this time of year, usually it's a guy with not much … if any history with the organization he's coming into. Obviously, that's not the case with Will. … I think he's very happy to be coming back here. What role he'll play when he's eligible to play, which will start next week providing he passes all the protocols, I'm not sure yet."