DENVER — It was a tale of two rooms after the Denver Broncos’ compelling 30-2 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the team’s preseason finale.
Despite an undefeated preseason for the Broncos, the postgame conversation was dominated by the uncertain future of Pro-Bowl safety T.J. Ward after news broke Tuesday that the team had been discussing trading the 30-year old with other organizations in the league.
In the press conference room postgame, Broncos head coach Vance Joseph was mum when asked about the future of the current No. 1 strong safety, simply saying, “Nothing on that,” when asked if Ward was on the trading block.
Instead, Joseph pointed to this coming weekend where over 1,100 players will be cut by 2 p.m. MST on Saturday, Sept. 2, as NFL rosters have to be cut from 90 players to 53.
“Again, it’s going to be a long weekend of a lot of transactions,” Joseph said when asked about Ward’s standing with the team. “I can’t speak to that. At the end of the day, we want the best guys for our football team. And if he’s one of them, he’ll be here.”
In the locker room, adjacent to the room Joseph had his press conference, there was hue and cry from every corner of the rectangular room for Ward to remain in the Mile High City for the 2017 season, led by the team’s best player.
“I’m with him. I’m with him 100 percent. I don’t think he should be going,” Von Miller said postgame. “That’s a cornerstone of the ‘No Fly Zone.’ The ‘No Fly Zone’ has made me great individually, us great as a defense and us great as an organization.”
Fellow starting safety Darian Stewart echoed Miller’s words of Ward’s importance to not only the best secondary in the league, but to the team as a whole.
“He is definitely a team leader, a big part of our defense and a big part of our team,” Stewart said. “I am just hoping it is just not true. We do a good job working together, and I am just hoping it is not true and we are getting ready for the season, and we expect him to be with us.”
If it really is about compiling the best players on the team, as Joseph suggested in his press conference, Ward’s backup, Justin Simmons, doesn’t see how the Broncos could part ways with the three-time Pro Bowler.
“If you’re asking me and my opinion, I think T.J. put it on tape. I think he’s put it on tape,” Simmons said. “I guess we’ll have to see. I don’t think the trade rumors are true.”
In three seasons with the Broncos, Ward has been to two Pro Bowls, while helping the defense become one of the league’s best against the run and pass.
In an industry where tough “business decisions” are made on a regular basis, Ward potentially moving on from the Broncos has drawn significantly more backlash from the locker room than nearly every other move of recent.
“It can’t be real. He’s such an impactful player on and off the football field; in and out of the locker room for the Denver Broncos,” Miller said. “I hope it’s fake news. I hope it’s not real. I’m just taking it one day at a time.”
If the Broncos’ brass—most notably John Elway and Joseph—are listening, they’ll hear the pleas from their veteran leaders to keep one of their own.
“I don’t know if they are going to listen to us, but I think it is going to impact a lot,” Stewart said. “He is the key leader and a good teammate.”
