Report: T.J. Ward won’t be with the Denver Broncos much longer
The Denver Broncos are reportedly going to be making a move to increase their cap space by dumping safety T.J. Ward by Saturday…
Well, chalk this up as the worst news of the week for Denver Broncos fans. Mike Klis of 9 News Denver is reporting that T.J. Ward’s days as a Bronco are numbered, perhaps even the hours he has left…
"“No, Von Miller, it’s not fake news. The Broncos are expected to part ways, preferably through trade, with strong safety T.J. Ward by 2 p.m. Saturday.”Mike Klis"
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall took to Twitter on Wednesday, expressing his desire for the team to not trade Ward. Von Miller than expressed to the media that he hoped it was just ‘fake news’ and that his teammate Ward wouldn’t be going anywhere.
It’s understandable, from a financial standpoint, why the Broncos would want to cut bait with Ward. It also makes sense from a football standpoint, given the emergence of second year safeties Justin Simmons and Will Parks, along with Darian Stewart leading the way.
Still, it’s not going to be easy to sell the release of a guy like Ward, who has been with the team since 2014.
From where I’m sitting, it doesn’t make any sense at Ward’s price point to release him, even with the salary cap carryover next offseason, but maybe in a year I’ll see it differently. The Broncos obviously have some restricted free agents that will need long-term deals next offseason, specifically kicker Brandon McManus.
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Whatever the Broncos save in cutting/trading Ward now, they will carryover to next year’s available cap space.
Negotiations in a trade would be tough, especially because the Broncos’ only leverage is that if Ward walks in free agency at the end of the season, they will only get a 5th-7th round pick back in 2019, in all likelihood.
That’s not necessarily great value for Ward, and teams may just call the Broncos’ bluff and force them to cut him, letting him hit the open market.
At that point, Ward would be free to sign with any team, and he could choose to stick it to the Broncos if he wanted.
This isn’t personal, but it is the ugly reality of the business of the NFL. The Broncos feel good about Justin Simmons and Will Parks, and Ward’s price point for his potential role on the team has led us to this point.
Unfortunately, we’ve probably seen the last of Ward in Denver, and I don’t know if they’ll get anything in return for letting him go.