Simpson cut a disappointed figure in the rooms post-match after his out-on-the-full kick at the 31-minute mark resulted in a point to David Zaharakis, which tied the scores and forced the draw.
Waite said Simpson, who also kicked the goal that had given the Blues their one-point lead in the first place, didn't deserve to be in the gun.
"He's one of those boys who takes it to heart and so does everyone, but we're all pretty disappointed," he said.
"At the end of the day, we've got to move on quickly and worry about next week against the Crows.
"He kicked three really good goals and really played his part.
"I think he's just upset we let it slip and he knows that and we all know that."
Coach Brett Ratten agreed Simpson shouldn't carry the sole responsibility for the result after the Blues squandered opportunities to win the match, including Jeff Garlett's decision to play on after marking in the forward 50 that saw him tackled by Dustin Fletcher with four minutes left.
"[Simpson] has kicked three goals and I don't see Kade do those types of things very often," he said.
"I just didn't think the players around him worked hard enough to separate the Essendon bloke, the one v two, or two v three … we just didn't spread and then the player has to get close to the boundary line and it becomes a little bit of a risk factor if you just miss it by a foot, and he did.
"We'd probably like to take that one back too, but we can't."
Waite admitted it was a hollow feeling to play in a match where the points were shared, and that the Blues were particularly frustrated they weren't able to exploit the Bombers' lack of fit players after they lost Jason Winderlich and Courtenay Dempsey to serious knee injuries in the first quarter.
"I haven't played in too many [draws], but you don't know whether to be happy," he said.
"In this instance, I think we're a bit upset because this was one that definitely got away.
"We knew [they lost players] and we tried to use that to our advantage but the first quarter wasn't good enough and then the second quarter we had opportunities on the scoreboard and we just didn't convert.
"Then if you're up a half time and in the third quarter you get on top of them, it sort of breaks their spirit but to their credit they held on strong and the whole 18 blokes out there towards the end were just on the ground.
"I haven't been that sore after a game in a while."
He also said Ratten's post-game message had been about moving on but had been delivered with a slightly sharp edge.
"We'll go through and blokes have to fight for their spots and if you're not contributing each week, you won't be in the team."
