The Broncos had a rousing win over the Raiders on Sunday, and while excitement filled the locker room after the win, you could still feel a sense of melancholy lingering.
One of the spots where that sensation was strongest was by Will Parks, who may have just played the last game of his career in orange and blue.
“Well, we finished 4-1 so you get a good feeling, but I’m on my fourth year and my contract is up,” Parks said. “You know, so this is probably the first year I’m going into an offseason training hard but I ultimately don’t know where I’m gonna be at the end of the day.”
“Obviously, I want to be here. I want to be in this locker room, I want to talk to you guys every day, you know? I don’t want to meet a new freakin’ reporting team and have to talk to them and get to know them,” Parks continued.
He clearly doesn’t want to leave Denver, but most of all, he doesn’t want to leave his teammate and fellow member of the 2016 draft class, Justin Simmons.
When asked about what it’s been like being teammates with Simmons for four years, Parks paused for several seconds in an effort to compose himself before answering, “My four years here probably would’ve been different if he wasn’t here. From teaching me more about Christianity. From making sure my family is good each and every day. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t say, ‘Hey Phil, how’s the family doing?'”
After taking another moment, Parks continued, “Every guy needs that one person in the locker room that they always go to. I have two of those guys. I have Von [Miller] and I have [No.] 31.”
With both the futures of Simmons and Parks up in the air, here’s hoping the Broncos are able to bring back both of their young, talented safeties back this offseason. This defense — and more importantly this locker room — will look a lot different without them.
