Brandon Marshall Comments on Future with Jets, Potential Pay Cut, More

When Brandon Marshall told reporters he would play for free at the end of the regular season, it seemed like he would be willing to take a pay cut to remain with the New York Jets.

Marshall would like to issue a correction.

“I didn’t say I’ll take a pay cut,” Marshall said in a phone interview with Daniel Popper of the New York Daily News. “What I said was I love football so much that I would play football if my bills were paid. I wasn’t talking about the New York Jets, or any other team for that matter. I was talking about my love for the game, and how I’m at a point in my career, too, where it’s not about the money.”

Marshall, 32, is due $7.5 million in base salary for 2017, the final year of his contract. The Jets can cut Marshall without owing him any additional money and save the full $7.5 million in cap space, per Spotrac.

While cutting the former Pro Bowler would have been shocking a year ago, Marshall is coming off his worst season in a decade. He recorded 59 receptions for 788 yards in 2016, numbers barely halfway to his 2015 totals. His three touchdowns were tied for the second fewest of his career, as Marshall fell victim to perhaps the NFL's worst quarterback play.

The Jets, a 10-6 team a year ago, fell to 5-11 this season. New York quarterbacks combined to throw an NFL-high 25 interceptions against 16 touchdowns, posting a league-worst 67.6 rating.

The team is widely expected to attempt to find a new quarterback via free agency or April's draft. Marshall said the Jets have not approached him about restructuring his deal nor indicated he will be released.

“There’s never been a conversation between my agents and the Jets or me and the Jets about, ‘Hey, we’re going to release you’ or ‘We’re thinking about releasing you,’” Marshall said. “With that being said, I’m under contract and that’s the way I’m approaching it. So I know that I’m still a dominant, elite receiver that demands a lot of attention, and I’m going to continue to work my tail off to be better. There’s a lot of things that I haven’t accomplished in this league, and I want it. And hopefully it works out before my time’s up.”

That's not to say the Jets have decided to keep Marshall, either. As Popper notes, Marshall was at the forefront of a number of internal squabbles last season. Cornerback Darrelle Revis told reporters that an argument between Marshall and Sheldon Richardson after a Week 3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs left a "dark cloud" that hurt the team all season.

Richardson, for his part, seemed to want no part of having Marshall as a teammate going forward.

"I wouldn't say a dark cloud. A cat's true colors came out," Richardson told reporters. "That's pretty much that."

Marshall has been no stranger to tumultuous relationships between teammates in the past. However, it was just one year ago that he was named team MVP by the Jets, and he told Popper he's committed to remaining with the Jets going forward.

“I know my teammates and I know people in this organization, and everyone’s passionate about winning, and winning the right way and winning now,” Marshall said. “So I believe in my guys.”

We'll see in the coming weeks whether that feeling is mutual or if Marshall has once again left a burning bridge in his wake.