Brandon Marshall Trade a Good Thing?

  Sure, in general a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Cliche as it may be, the old saying seems to apply perfectly here. We had a top 5 WR, and we traded him for two 2nd round gambles. Sounds terrible if you stop there.

 But there was more involved in this trade than pure talent vs. likelihood to get more talent through received draft picks.

   First, regarding pure talent, one person does not make a winning team, and a person's bad attitude off the field can negate the good he does on the field.

  Brandon Marshall was rightfully angry that he was not being given the money he deserved considering his elite play.  The problem is, from both a business and football perspective, there were many reasons why the broncos were justified in not wanting to pay out. It was a lose - lose situation.

 Business: Bowlen has been burned in the past when he gave out free market value (based solely on on-field performance) to character issues before (most notably, Travis Henry). So here is Marshall, with more than 10 arrests by his mid twenties, on the record as saying to the D police "I hate Denver, I hate this city, I hate f***ing city," one more misdemeanor away from a possible full season suspension.  Tough to pay out the near $50 mill his on-field performance is apparently worth.

 Football: maximum effort in football (except in the most disciplined and self motivated players) requires trust in the guy standing next to you. Like in war, it is hard to jump on a grenade to save your buddies if you think your buddies don't have your back.  

 It is hard to develop that when you are trying to physically and mentally prepare for a winning season, and, meanwhile during practice, the person who is supposed to be your #1 receiver is batting away passes, walking when everyone else is running laps (even though he is healthy enough to run), and being mean to ball boys by punting balls away instead of handing it to the little volunteers like everyone else does. 

 So, This trade made perfect sense for the Broncos for the above two reasons, as well as the fact that there was a high likelihood that next year Marshall would walk away anyway for nothing more than a possible compensatory pick. We are unlikely to replace the pure talent with the two picks we received for Marshall, but if we draft wisely, those picks will become two sufficiently-talented, well-suited, team-first players that can be part of a full effort team. And they will help us win.

Also, consider that we got significantly more value for BM than the steelers did for Superbowl MVP Holmes (one 5th round pick), and similar compensation to what the Eagles got for the multiple pro-bowl QB that got them to the nfc championship half the seasons he started.

 2nd, this trade is ultimately good for both parties. It is a win-win. It is good for the broncos for all the above reasons, but it is also great for Marshall.

 Marshall is from Florida. He loves Miami. There is a good chance he grew up rooting for them. They paid  him a benchmark salary that is commensurate with his on-field performance, and they have the staff with the experience to have a good chance of controlling his off-field issues. Additionally, they have a budding QB in Chad Henne, and Marshall's presence will make that QB better. So Marshall really should be a happy camper, and will most likely have his best years down there.

 I remain a huge fan of Marshall's, and will now follow the Dolphins just to see what he does there. I am really looking forward to his two-a-year battles with the Jets' CB Revis. Marshall is a likable guy and a huge talent.

 So, it seems good that Marshall is in what seems to be his ideal landing spot where he can really be his best on and off the field. It also seems good the Broncos got maximum value, and unloaded what was only going to be an unhappy Denver player that probably would have walked away for nothing next year anyway.

A true win-win.

As a Bronco fan, my main regret is that the Dolphins are a rival AFC team :\