The Brandon Marshall saga finally ended for the Denver Broncos yesterday. Denver sent Marshall to the Miami Dolphins for a 2nd round pick in this year's draft and a second round pick in 2011. The fact that Denver got a 2nd round pick back from Miami this year is a really good thing because the value in return for trading receivers was dwindling. Now, the Broncos have 3 picks in the first 45 picks of this year's draft. They can go many ways with those picks, and there is a chance they could even try to find a replacement for Marshall with one of those three picks.
Clearly, it was apparent that Denver and Marshall weren't going to coexist anymore. This has been a move that was anticipated from the moment Marshall was benched for the final game of the season. Josh McDaniels has sent a message, and the message is that if you don't get on board with the team philosphy, then you are expendable- no matter who you are. Unlike the Jets, the Broncos actually value character, commitment, and team players. Marshall never was a team-first player. He constantly got himself in trouble and put himself in bad situations. If you are a Bronco fan, then you can look at this move as addition by subtraction.
Bronco fans can get upset and blame McDaniels, but it was hard to see Marshall get a contract extension from the Mike Shanahan regime too. Marshall just agreed to the become the highest paid WR in NFL history with his new deal in Miami. That is a lot of money to throw at a guy who is one screwup away from getting suspended for at least half a season. Shanahan was never going to give Marshall that type of money and neither was McDaniels. If he wasn't going to be in the long term plans, then might as well move on and get the best trade possible.
Now, it would be foolish not to admit how extremely talented Marshall is. You are talking about a top five receiver in the NFL. This will certainly affect the Bronco offense. In the NFL, you win with the QB-not the receivers. However, when Kyle Orton is your QB, then you need wideouts like Brandon Marshall to help you succeed. Marshall is immense talent, and it is hard to see how his absence won't negatively affect the Bronco offense, but football is a strange game. Sometimes, you can take a piece away and still have a productive system. Perhaps the group of Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney, Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Stokely, and a draft pick, can make up for some of the production that Marshall gave them. When Denver advanced to the 2005 AFC Championship, their top 3 WRs were: Rod Smith (Aging veteran), Ashley Lelie, and Charlie Adams. Once again, you can't just judge a football team on paper. It is how that group comes together and plays in a system.
Bronco fans are up in arms that in the past two years we have lost our two best players. Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall are now gone, and the fanbase wants to know how are we going to win again. Well, for everything that Cutler and Marshall did statistically, the one fact remains: Both of them never got Denver into the playoffs. They couldn't win a must win game against SF in 2006, they couldn't win must win games at Carolina, against Buffalo, and at San Diego in 2008, and Marshall couldn't help us beat Oakland at home in 2009. Maybe Marshall and Cutler were never going to get us to where we wanted to go. It is hard to see the bigger picture now, but perhaps losing Marshall will be a blessing. Once again, addition by subtraction.
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