Broncos sign safety T.J. Ward

T.J. Ward (top) will bring a new attitude to Denver's defense. (Diamond Images/Getty Images) In their Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver

Doug Farrar | Mar 11, 2014

Broncos sign safety T.J. Ward /

T.J. Ward (top) will bring a new attitude to Denver's defense. (Diamond Images/Getty Images)

In their Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver Broncos saw what happens when a hard-hitting enforcer-type safety roams your defense. Seahawks defender Kam Chancellor, who should have been the game's Most Valuable Player, thumped Denver's receivers on all manner of underneath routes, making sure that the Broncos understood that success would invite punishment.

Denver couldn't get Chancellor, but Executive Vice President John Elway and head coach John Fox may have come close, striking a deal with former Cleveland Browns safety T.J. Ward. According to the Denver Post, the contract will be worth about $23 million over four years, with $14 million guaranteed.

Excited to announce we've agreed to terms with strong safety T.J. Ward. He'll bring energy and toughness to our secondary.

— John Elway (@johnelway)

March 11, 2014

Selected in the second round of the 2010 draft out of Oregon, Ward starred for the Browns right away, amassing 80 solo tackles and two interceptions in his rookie campaign. And while he can cover deep, he's really gained a reputation as one of the harder hitters in the NFL -- something the Broncos could use. In 2013, he had 74 solo tackles and two more picks. He's one of the best run-stopping safeties in the league, and his ability to bring pressure as a blitzer makes him a very impressive player.

In 2013, Ward earned his first career Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press. He also was voted by his teammates as the recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award after starting all 16 games for the Browns following a knee injury late in the 2012 season.

"The position is ignored but yet in the playoffs, there seems to be a safety who's extremely instrumental during the [postseason] run," former Broncos safety John Lynch recently told the Denver Post. "[Bernard] Pollard a couple years ago with Baltimore. You saw with the Broncos in the Super Bowl, Kam Chancellor in many ways took over that game."

Grade: A.

Published Mar 11, 2014

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.