NFL – Are Brandon Marshall’s Days in Denver Over?

Last off season, the Denver Broncos parted ways with a franchise quarterback named Jay Cutler because he couldn’t get along with newly appointed head coach Josh McDaniels. This coming off season for the Broncos could see them lose another franchise star, but this time it’s wide receiver Brandon Marshall. The Broncos seem reluctant to sign the hot headed Marshall to a long term contract, and with Marshall becoming a restricted free agent after March 5th, things are going to get interesting for the Mile High betting faithful.

Denver’s season is one that their fans would rather forget. After ripping out to a 6-0 SU start, and becoming one of the best teams to bet on, the Broncos completely imploded losing four straight games. They ended the season just 8-8 SU and missed the playoffs as San Diego charged right past them to win the division.

The reasons for Denver’s collapse are multi-faceted. McDaniels was a rookie head coach, and his quarterback was the ever underachieving Kyle Orton. The secondary had some serious name value with Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins, but it was also pretty old and, with that, unbearably slow. Denver still ranked in the top-10 with just 315.0 yards allowed defensively but fell to 12th overall with 20.3 points allowed per game.

The Broncos have never been a franchise to put their coach on the hot seat, and that seems to be a right and privilege that McDaniels is taking complete advantage of. His inability to patch things up with Marshall, and his frustrating mantra of “my way or the highway” will leave the Broncos without their most bankable star on the roster.

Marshall led the Denver Broncos with 101 receptions, 1,120 yards and 10 touchdowns. He averaged a staggering 11.1 yards per catch and remains one of the most – if not the most – difficult receivers to bring down after the ball is in his hands. His best game of the season by far was his 21 catch game against Indianapolis where he ended up with 200 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Now in his fourth year as a pro, Marshall is looking for long-term security and that can only come in the form of a contract. Unfortunately for the Denver betting backers that love him so, Marshall will not be signing any sort of long term deal in Denver anytime soon. McDaniels and him are simply at different extremes of the same argument, and they both are so stubborn that neither will budge.

Denver can match any offer that another team throws at Marshall, but it can only be for a one year tender. With the undeniable talent Marshall possesses, he’ll be a target of many teams this season with the Bears hoping to catch gold with the 10th overall pick in the upcoming 2010 NFL Draft, which you’ll be able to bet on to your heart’s content in our sportsbook.

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Dez Bryant is the only receiver in the draft even worth considering that high, and with the Broncos in desperate need of a quarterback they’ll be hard pressed to pass up Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame if he falls to them like he’s supposed to. By all accounts, former Heisman winner Sam Bradford may be up for grabs at the ten spot too.

The problem for Denver largely is that they won’t want to sign Marshall to a hefty one year deal, and there’s one team out there with a bottomless chequing account that would love to bring Marshall on board. You guessed it – the Washington Redskins. Newly anointed head coach Mike Shanahan is all too familiar with Marshall from his days in Denver, and with Dan Snyder’s pocket book as his financial assault rifle, Shanny can pretty much offer Marshall the moon.

Of course, losing Marshall in the off-season would be another kick in the groin to a Denver team that has fallen short of the playoffs for four straight years. Without their only star offensive player, the Broncos will be a veritable disaster joining Kansas City and Oakland at the bottom of the AFC pile.

All this being said, I really don’t know who to take sides with on this one. Marshall is a phenomenal talent, and he’s never let his emotions boil over to the point that he doesn’t come out and compete to the best of his ability (well, if you don’t count the time he beat the crap out of Knowshon Moreno on the sidelines). McDaniels, on the other hand, is acting like a stubborn 1950’s dad who won’t let his kids out of the house unless he’s in a good mood.

For McDaniels, keeping guys on his team is as important to his job as it is to the immediate hopes of the Denver Broncos and their fans. So why doesn’t he care to keep Marshall, or even entertain the idea of mending a broken bridge? If Denver could do this all over again, I still wonder if they’d rather have Cutler and Marshall over McDaniels.

I know who I’d rather have.

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