Brandon Marshall Traded To Miami, Where He Becomes Highest Paid WR Ever

A few weeks back there were reports surfacing that the Jets had a serious interest in signing Brandon Marshall to an offer sheet.

According to the Denver Post, that was definitely the case. In fact, the Jets even talked contract with Marshall, who was a restricted free agent at the time, but couldn’t agree on a deal that worked for both sides. The Broncos would have “gladly” taken the Jets 29th overall pick and the Jets would have a little sizzle to add to the opening of their new stadium, as well as a nice weapon for Mark Sanchez.

The Seahawks were the only team to bring in Brandon Marshall for a visit during restricted free agency. Head coach Pete Carroll had expressed some interest at various points throughout the process but, ultimately, they didn’t pull the trigger.

So was not trading for Marshall the right move? SB Nation’s Field Gulls weighs in:

Even though the reported trade between the Dolphins and Broncos exploded throughout the NFL community Wednesday morning, the deal still hinged on Brandon Marshall’s physical; not that anyone expected an athletic 26-year old coming off three straight 100-reception seasons to suddenly have arthritis in the knees. But one mustn’t be too careful.

The Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero writes that colleague Jeff Darlington caught up with the wide receiver coming out of the doctor’s office. Whether or not he was casing the place or working on his sneaky paparazzi skills is unknown, if not a little unnerving. When asked how the physical went, Marshall told Darlington “it went great.”

WR Brandon Marshall was expected to sign one of the most lucrative receiver contracts in league history following the trade that sent him from Denver to Miami.

And he did just that.

From SB Nation’s The Phinsider:

The Phinsider also notes that Miami coordinator Mike Nolan, who came over from Denver, was consulted about Marshall before the deal went down and he called Marshall the best WR the Broncos defense faced all year. And they only saw him in practice.

In each of the last three seasons, Brandon Marshall has put up numbers rivaling the elite receivers in the NFL.

Now he’s going to be paid like them, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Broncos have traded Brandon Marshall to the Dolphins for a second round pick.

Per Schefter, the trade includes a second round pick in the 2010 draft as well what is “thought to be” a second round pick in 2011.

Call it curious timing but news has filtered out via a FOX affiliate in Denver that WR Dez Bryant will visit the Broncos on Wednesday.

The timing is interesting because within the hour news also broke that WR Brandon Marshall signed his restricted free agent tender opening the door for the Broncos to trade him.

That specific scenario won’t happen as Marshall signed his tender today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

However, this now means that he is officially under contract and the Broncos can trade him for whatever price they want.