When it was announced that the Buccaneers would be signing safety T.J. Ward, the question then became who he was going to replace on the roster the day after cuts had been finalize.
We now know who that will be in the form of a trade.
In the wake of signing T.J. Ward, the #Bucs have traded S J.J. Wilcox
📰 | https://t.co/OR83QKNV4Z pic.twitter.com/DgLzqmn39i
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) September 3, 2017
The details of the trade are the Bucs sending safety J.J. Wilcox and a 2019 7th to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2018 6th rounder.
Wilcox was only in Tampa for the duration of the offseason and the preseason after signing a two-year deal worth $8.5 million last March. Since then, he’s been running with the second team alongside rookie Justin Evans.
With the swap of Wilcox and Ward, it’s clear that the Bucs were hoping they were getting a player who could push himself as a potential starter more. They clearly didn’t see that with Wilcox.