New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen often says he looks for players to “catch my eye” when determining starting spots and evaluating roster battles.

But after two weeks of training camp, and watching the team’s safeties every day, he couldn’t be blamed if his eyes started to wander.

The Saints hosted All-Pro safety Justin Simmons for a visit Wednesday, and if he signs with New Orleans, it’ll almost certainly end the Saints’ search for a starter opposite Tyrann Mathieu.

Allen said Wednesday that the Saints’ interest in Simmons wasn’t necessarily a reflection of how the team felt about its non-Mathieu safeties. But how could it not be? Through 12 training camp practices, and months of evaluation before that, the Saints rotated Jordan Howden, Johnathan Abram, Will Harris and Roderic Teamer with the 1’s — and none of the four emerged from the pack.

The Saints, in theory, could wait and use the upcoming preseason games to see if any of the four can make a convincing argument they deserve to be a starter.

Or … they could explore adding a two-time Pro Bowler who has earned four second-team All-Pro selections.

“I don’t think we’re set at that position opposite of Mathieu,” Allen said.

That Simmons is even available to the Saints this late into the summer comes as a surprise. The Denver Broncos unexpectedly released the 30-year-old in March, but that was more due to a salary cap crunch. The Broncos’ release of quarterback Russell Wilson left a record $53 million on the books, and so Denver needed to save money somewhere. And cutting Simmons (to save $18.5 million) did that.

But Simmons became a free agent at arguably the worst time possible for safeties. He was one of many high-profile players at the position to become a cap causality. And though he was seen as the best of the bunch, it didn’t seem to matter: The money dried up – as teams suddenly seemed unwilling to shell out top dollar for the position.

It is unknown what Simmons was seeking when he first hit the market. But Allen suggested the safety had lowered his asking price from when he and the Saints first had talks earlier in the spring. The coach said Wednesday that Simmons expressed interest in playing for New Orleans, but the two sides “weren’t on the same page” when they talked around what Allen estimated was after the draft.

“I think it’s just closer to the season,” Allen said. “And we’re probably closer on both sides.”

Simmons would represent a clear upgrade at safety for the Saints, to the point he may even be the top one on the roster. While he wasn’t as productive last year – Pro Football Focus gave him his second-lowest grade of his career – he still filled up the stat sheet with 70 tackles, eight passes defended and three interceptions.

Simmons’ ability to force turnovers, thanks to his strong vision and excellent football IQ, may be what’s most appealing about his game. And that would fit right in with the Saints.

According to Statmuse, Simmons and Mathieu have recorded the most and third-most interceptions over the last five seasons – a stat that grabbed Mathieu’s attention on social media.

“Oh!!” Mathieu tweeted, adding a fire emoji.

Interestingly, there could be some positional overlap between Mathieu and Simmons – a potential problem the Saints would have to solve if they become teammates. Both players have historically lined up as the free safety, with most of their snaps coming on the back end. Last year, per PFF, Simmons played 594 snaps at free safety to Mathieu’s 565.

But it might not be too big of an issue in the long run. For one, modern safeties are often required to play both spots – with their roles changing depending on the play and pre-snap formation presented by the offense. As deep as Simmons and Mathieu have played, they each logged more than 200 snaps in the box – closer to the line scrimmage – last season.

Allen also had no concern about the two’s fit because of his staff’s already-established familiarity with Simmons. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods and secondary coach Marcus Robertson each had stints in Denver and coached Simmons, a 2016 third rounder, earlier in his career. Woods and Robertson have spent hours thinking of ways to best deploy Simmons and take advantage of his diverse skillset.

“If we went down that road, I think we’d find ways to utilize those players,” Allen said. “I think that’s a strength of what we do.”

The alternative for the Saints would be to just trust what they have on the roster. But no matter how camp unfolded, the reality is that the position would have been a looming question once the regular season began. Harris, Abram and Teamer have been mostly backups, and even Howden — who had a promising rookie year — has appeared to not fully gain the trust of the coaching staff.

Instead, Harris’ reaction to Simmons’ visit said it all. His eyebrows immediately rose before letting out, an “Oh yeah?” when told of the news.

Harris, Simmons’ teammate at Boston College, hadn’t heard before then. But he had nothing but glowing praise for the man who might cost him a starting spot.

“The work speaks for itself,” Harris said. “He’s a high level player and a high level person. He’s a great friend, man. And so that would be amazing.”