In somewhat of a surprising move, the Denver Broncos released would-be starting safety T.J. Ward on Saturday prior to the 4 p.m. ET deadline to get rosters down to 53 men.
Troy Renck of Denver 7 spoke to Ward, who confirmed his release. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported the move.
The Broncos later shared a statement from President of Football Operations John Elway on Ward's release:
On Tuesday, Rapoport first reported the team was interested in trading the veteran, while Mike Klis of KUSA noted Denver could release him if it didn't have any offers on the table.
According to Adam Schefter, the Buccaneers are signing veteran S T.J. Ward to a one-year, $5 million contract following his release from the Broncos.
James Palmer was first to report that Ward was signing with the Buccaneers.
Last night, Jeremy Fowler reported that three teams are making a “serious push” to sign Ward and a decision was expected to come soon, and it appears as though the Buccaneers were aggressive enough to get a deal done right away.
Posted by Mike Florio on September 4, 2017, 2:05 PM EDT
The now-former teammates of T.J. Ward reportedly weren’t happy with the team’s Saturday decision to cut him. Ward wasn’t, either.
“It’s unfortunate the way they handled the situation,” Ward told reporters on Monday, via James Palmer of NFL Media. “But it is what it is. And they got to live with it. I got to live with it. And we’ll see what happens, but I’m going to make sure I land on my feet. That’s just me. And whatever happens to them, the [expletive] happens to them. That’s on them.”
So how should they have handled it?
“You could have let me know what was going on,” Ward said. “You had a full offseason. I know it’s a business, but when you have good employees, you’re supposed to treat your employees a certain way. And I think they handled it completely unprofessional. That’s just my opinion.”
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T.J. Ward Released by Broncos
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