Buccaneers Finally Do Something Smart
As posted by my man Chris Kolb at NFL News & Rumors and originally reported by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and later confirmed by NFL.com’s Adam Schefter, the Buccaneers have signed FA RB Derrick Ward to a 4 year $17 million dollar deal. He’ll earn 13 million gauranteed over the first 3 years of the contract.
I’ve been pining for the Bucs to sign Ward, and the perplexing thing is he was supposed to visit Tampa tommorow after going to visit a few other teams. I suppose the Bucs and his agent had a little pow-wow and decided that if he was going to come here at all, it better be with a contract in hand.
Ward is a perfect one cut back for the system that Jeff Jagodzinski wants to implement in Tampa, and that our line should be more than capable of operating at a high level. The combo of Ward, Ernest Graham and Cadillac Williams after he recovers from his knee injury should give the Bucs a formidable trio at RB. Until Caddy returns from his injury, Graham and Ward should be able to hold down the fort, and hold it down well.
The signing of Ward should let a little ray of sun shine on in the thunderstorm of controversy that has been sorrounding the new Buccaneers front office in the Bay Area.
Ward is one of the guys I targeted way back in free agency for the Bucs. Nice pick-up. Contract isn’t out of line, either, unlike Clayton’s.
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 amA side benefit is that the team can now ignore HB in the draft.
That is a great pick up for the Bucs. I am getting really excited for this season with every team in our division so commited to the running game.
March 3rd, 2009 at 10:52 am[...] The Pewter Plank likes Tampa’s signing of Derrick Ward. [...]
March 10th, 2009 at 7:00 pm