Buccaneers safety T.J. Ward was arrested Wednesday morning in Tampa, Fla., on a pair of drug charges.
Ward was charged with “possession of cannabis” and “possession of drug paraphernalia,” per the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office. Ward was released from jail Wednesday after posting $2,500 bond, according to jail records.
The arrest stems from an Oct. 25 incident when Tampa police investigated an alarm call at Ward’s apartment, according to an incident report. During the investigation police discovered approximately 99.9 grams of marijuana in two glass jars. The Tampa Bay Times reports Wednesday’s arrest was on “an outstanding warrant” related to the October incident.
“Reports from various sources revolving around my client, TJ Ward, and an incident nearly 3 months ago are inaccurate,” Ward’s agent Josh Arnold said in a statement obtained by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. “We dispute the claims being reported and TJ adamantly denies these allegations. It was our understanding that the matter had been resolved in October and my client was never arrested at that time. Nor was he even at the residence when the police allegedly located marijuana. TJ never received a notice to appear or any other notice of a court date regarding this matter in October or subsequently thereafter. TJ is uncertain as to why this is coming up now given the fact it was resolved months ago, but nonetheless he looks forward to resolving the issue as expeditiously as possible.”
The veteran defender signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers last September just a few hours after he was cut by the Denver Broncos as teams trimmed their rosters to 53 players.
Ward had an uneventful season in Tampa Bay, starting just five games for the Bucs.
Ward is set to hit free agency this March.