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Pro Bowl safety T.J. Ward expected to sign one-year deal with Bucs

 
Broncos' Shaquil Barrett (48) and T.J. Ward (43) tackle Bucs' scrambling quarterback Jameis Winston (3) in the rain during the Bucs home game against the Broncos at Raymond James Stadium 10/2/2016.
Broncos' Shaquil Barrett (48) and T.J. Ward (43) tackle Bucs' scrambling quarterback Jameis Winston (3) in the rain during the Bucs home game against the Broncos at Raymond James Stadium 10/2/2016.
Published Sept. 4, 2017

TAMPA — The good teams in the NFL can shuffle players like cards. That's what the Bucs spent the weekend doing, and it paid off with them expected to sign safety T.J. Ward.

General manager Jason Licht, having kept $25.5 million in salary cap space for such a transaction, pounced — along with more than a half-dozen other teams — when Ward was released after three seasons with the Broncos on Saturday.

Ward, 30, is expected to sign a one-year, $5 million contract with the Bucs, who would add a three-time Pro Bowl player and Super Bowl champion to their secondary one week before the regular-season opener at Miami.

What would the Bucs get in Ward?

He's as tough and competitive as any player in the NFL and was a key member of the Broncos' "No Fly Zone." Ward also has overcome plenty of obstacles.

A knee injury suffered early in his senior year at high school powerhouse De La Salle in Concord, Calif., forced him to walk on at Oregon. After being drafted in the second round by Cleveland in 2010, the Browns didn't think he was worth retaining when he became a free agent after the 2013 season despite earning a spot in the Pro Bowl in his fourth year.

RELATED: 'Hard Knocks' star Riley Bullough back on Bucs' practice squad.

All he did with the Broncos was go to two more Pro Bowls and play an integral part in their Super Bowl 50 win over the Panthers by recording seven tackles, a pass defended, a fumble recovery and an interception.

"I don't think he should be going," Broncos defensive end Von Miller said last week. "That's a cornerstone of the No Fly Zone."

Linebacker Brandon Marshall said on Twitter last week, "Letting go of TJ would be a mistake. With all the plays he's made and leadership he's brought."

Ward is coming off what he has said was his best season, with 87 tackles, one sack, one interception and three forced fumbles.

Due to a hamstring injury, Ward did not play in any of the Broncos' four preseason games this year, and he also missed a good portion of practice time during training camp. But he was preparing to be ready for the Sept. 10 opener. He was due to earn $4.5 million, and the Broncos decided to go with the two safeties they drafted in 2016.

If Ward passes a physical when he arrives in Tampa Bay, he almost certainly will beat out either Chris Conte or Keith Tandy for one of the starting spots (most likely Tandy, who started five games at the end of last year but has been a career backup).

Also, the Bucs traded safety J.J. Wilcox and a 2019 seventh-round draft pick to the Steelers on Sunday for a 2018 sixth-round pick.

If nothing else, this shows the Bucs are going for it. Last season the secondary was a weakness. Vernon Hargreaves was a rookie and the only player to give up more than 1,000 yards receiving while recording only one interception. Brent Grimes is 34, but he played as well as anyone on defense. Conte has said he put too much pressure on himself, but his interceptions against Chicago and at Kansas City probably won those games. Bradley McDougald never made any plays and signed with Seattle in the offseason.

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Given the number of elite quarterbacks the Bucs will face this season, they weren't going to jump into the lion's cage wearing a hamburger suit again. Ward would give them a Pro Bowl talent at every level of the defense in the middle of the field, to say nothing of a mentor for Justin Evans, a second-round pick this year from Texas A&M.

So what does the Bucs' 53-man roster tell us about the team? It added speed, particularly on offense, with receivers DeSean Jackson, O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin. The offensive line, with Ali Marpet at center and J.R. Sweezy at right guard, will keep defenders from pushing the pocket into quarterback Jameis Winston's feet. The depth is at tight end, receiver and interior offensive line. It's thin at tackle.

On defense, the Bucs are bigger inside with the addition of end Chris Baker. Their strength is the speed and depth at linebacker. The Bucs are thin at cornerback and edge rushers.

The special teams will be more solid with kicker Nick Folk and the addition of explosive returner Bernard Reedy.

"I feel great about our team," coach Dirk Koetter said. "But you just look at our team last year. We were teetering at one point, and I felt good about them then. The bottom line is they, the players, had to pull us out of it. The coaches have a very small part in that. That comes from inside the players themselves.

"Going back all 30-something years I've ever coached, every team — no matter how many guys you have coming back — their personality changes a little bit from year to year. … You're adding pieces, drafting guys, you think you are putting the right guys in the right spots, but there are a lot of inner workings in that locker room that you're just not sure of."