Brandon Marshall Reportedly Traded to New York Jets

Brandon Marshall's future in the NFL isn't in doubt, but he will have to make plays for a new team in 2015 as the star wide receiver has reportedly been traded to the New York Jets.

Continue for updates.  

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Bears Reportedly Trade Marshall to Jets

Friday, March 6

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Bears have agreed to trade Marshall to the Jets, pending a physical. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported that the move frees up $3.95 million in cap space.

Bleacher Report's Chris Simms discussed the move:

On March 5,  Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported that the Bears were actively shopping Marshall in the trade market.Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports reported that the team was hoping for a mid-round pick in return for the wideout. Dan Graziano of ESPN reported that if the Bears did trade Marshall, it would save the team $4 million. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Dan Hanzus of NFL.com) reported that "The effort to move Marshall is an attempt by new general manager Ryan Pace and coach John Fox to "clean up the locker room."

Marshall posted the following message on Twitter:

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Marshall Wearing Out Welcome in Chicago

Wednesday, Feb. 11

According to Rich Campbell of The Chicago Tribune, Marshall's meeting with new Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox didn't give him any guarantees:

Despite that cloud of uncertainty, Marshall did say his talks with the new bosses in Chicago had been good, via Campbell:

Per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Marshall also acknowledged that he realizes the way the NFL operates even though he wanted to stay with the Bears:

The 30-year-old Marshall had been the source of much speculation so far this offseason. He's signed through 2017 with a cap hit of $9.575 million next season, per Spotrac, and is coming off his worst season—61 catches for 721 yards—since his rookie campaign. 

Also, Don Banks of Sports Illustrated recently wrote that Marshall was wearing out his welcome in Chicago:

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Last season, Marshall angered some in the organization with his post-game outbursts against teammates, his weekly trip to New York for the taping of Showtime’s 'Inside the NFL,' his occasional dust-ups on Twitter, and his propensity to display a me-first attitude. In other words, he was a lot closer to the diva receiver stereotype than he had been in his first two seasons as a Bear.

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Banks also noted that the new regime in Chicago had no ties to Marshall, so Pace and Fox deciding to try addition by subtraction with the star wideout makes sense. 

There's no doubt Marshall, even as he gets older, is still an immensely talented player. In a down season, he still had eight touchdown catches. His large stature makes him a matchup nightmare in the red zone, so he should fit perfectly with a team likely to have a young quarterback under center in 2015.