Larry Brown Sports

Brandon Marshall is one of the newest members of the Bears, and he’s expecting big things for his new team. Speaking after the team’s practice at Soldier Field during the Comcast Family Fest on Friday night, Marshall fired up the fans by predicting a Super Bowl appearance.

Marshall had just finished an interview with the team’s radio crew when he grabbed the mic to share one more message with the fans:

“This is just between us, so keep it here,” Marshall said to the 27,352 fans.

“Super Bowl.”

CSN Chicago reports that the fans went nuts after hearing Marshall say that. And why wouldn’t they? Of course that’s what they want to hear. The problem is that Super Bowls are won in February, not August, and that words mean very little.

Marshall has been predicting big things for him and Jay Cutler, so it’s obvious he’s confident entering the season. But we already know from past experience that he’s not exactly the best at making predictions for his teams. Chicago will be tough, but they may only be the third-best team in their division.

Photo credit: David Banks-US PRESSWIRE

Whether their ownership group likes it or not, the Dolphins currently have a nasty stigma attached to their organization. At the moment, it feels like nobody wants to play there. Miami was considered a front-runner to land Peyton Manning when he hit the market, and we saw how quickly that fell apart. Then it appeared they would sign Matt Flynn, but but Flynn ultimately chose Seattle. No player seems happier to be out of Miami this season than Brandon Marshall, simply because he thinks it is impossible for a receiver to succeed there.

“It doesn’t make any sense to pay a guy $2 million and only expect him to have 60 or 65 receptions, or 70 receptions in this new offense,” Marshall said during an interview with 740 The Game according the Sun Sentinel. “And also, if you don’t have a quarterback, it doesn’t matter who you have out there. You can bring Jerry Rice back in his prime and he’s not going to be effective. So it makes sense on a business end, and also the fit just philosophy-wise, wasn’t there. I can understand the change, and honestly this is the best move that could have happened for both sides.”

Matt Moore is currently the Dolphins No. 1 starter with David Garrard as his primary back-up, so there certainly is a problem at quarterback in Miami. In a way, Marshall is right. It’s impossible to say how arguably the best receiver in NFL history would perform with the Dolphins under the current circumstances, but it is hardly an environment that is built to thrive in. Whether or not it was necessary for Marshall to throw a parting shot at his old team is open to interpretation.

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: David Banks-US PRESSWIRE

The Chicago Bears seemingly got Brandon Marshall from Miami in a steal, but according to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, the team was happy just to get something for him in return.

Ross reportedly called a disgruntled season ticket holder, one who protested last week, and told him the team had been shopping Brandon Marshall for a few weeks and planned to cut him if they didn’t find a trade partner. Ross reportedly told the fan they wanted to get rid of Marshall to improve team morale.

The fan told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the team wasn’t too interested in Matt Flynn and that they didn’t feel Tim Tebow was a good fit for the offense. The fan recalls Ross saying they would have gotten Flynn if coach Joe Philbin wanted him badly enough, which is exactly what I said. But they decided $8 million was too much to gamble on him. Instead, they thought Matt Moore was just as good as Flynn or Alex Smith for the amount of money he makes.

If the Dolphins were planning to get rid of Marshall anyway, at least getting two third-round picks for him is some decent compensation. But I still think they made a mistake not going after Matt Flynn. He would have been a big improvement for them.

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo Credit: Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

When the Dolphins traded Brandon Marshall to the Bears earlier this week, many people speculated it had to do with the team’s pursuit of Peyton Manning. Turns out that was not the case.

NFL.com’s Jeff Darlington says Miami had plans to trade Marshall and that they “told Manning during their Monday meeting that Marshall might or might not be with the team.”

Darlington also disputes a Palm Beach Post report that said the Dolphins needed Dan Marino to call Manning in order to lock up an interview with him.

Either way, we know the Dolphins are out of the hunt for Peyton and are now focusing on signing free agent Matt Flynn to play quarterback, something they should have been doing all along. What’s funny is the way the Dolphins supposedly believed they were the leaders to sign Manning when that wasn’t the case.

Regarding Marshall, Darlington’s report makes sense. I don’t think a team trades one of its best players for the hope that it will make the franchise more attractive to a free agent; that’s taking some illogical steps.

The latest news surrounding Brandon Marshall likely has Bears fans feeling mixed emotions about their new acquisition. When Chicago pulled off a trade for Marshall earlier in the week, they gave Jay Cutler the deep threat receiver he has wanted over the past three seasons. Almost immediately after the trade was completed, however, news surfaced that Marshall could be in trouble off the field again, as he has been accused of hitting a woman at a club in New York over the weekend.

As they await the outcome, Bears fans can relax knowing that Cutler fully plans to babysit Marshall next season.

“We’ve remained close, we’re going to get even closer now that he’s back with us as a Bear,” Cutler said during an interview with ESPN Chicago. “I’m going to keep every eye I have on him, making sure he’s doing the right thing. That’s not a problem with Brandon right now. He’s matured. He wants to do the right thing. It’s just a shame that his past still haunts him, but that’s what happens, everyone makes mistakes. Brandon is still learning from them and growing, and like I said, we have a heck of a guy, a heck of a player and I think Phil (Emery) made quite a splash on Day 1 (of free agency).”

The above quote came after Cutler called out ESPN Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy for questioning Marshall as a person on their Twitter account. Clearly, Jay believes Brandon is innocent and that the alleged incident from last weekend will blow over. The chemistry Marshall and Cutler had on the field in Denver is undeniable, but Bears fans have every right to wonder about their new receiver’s character. It makes sense for Cutler to defend Marshall, but even he knows why people in Chicago are concerned.

When the Dolphins traded Brandon Marshall to the Bears for two third-round picks, many people figured they moved him because they were trying to make their roster more attractive to free agent quarterback Peyton Manning. Now we’re learning it may have been for a different reason.

According to a police report obtained by the New York Post, Marshall is accused of hitting a woman at a club in New York early Sunday morning. The Post says Marshall was celebrating a woman’s birthday party and got into a fight with another athlete. The two were allegedly kicked out of the club, and the woman, birthday girl Christin Myles, says she was punched in the eye by Marshall. It’s unclear if Marshall’s alleged punch was intended for Myles.

Marshall’s attorney is giving a completely different account of the facts. Here’s the attorney’s statement, as shared by Jay Glazer:

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Less than a month after pointing out that the Bears could use some size at wide receiver, Jay Cutler got his wish. Chicago traded two third-round picks to the Dolphins in exchange for Brandon Marshall.

Marshall and Cutler were teammates on the Broncos from 2006-2008 and shared plenty of offensive success. Marshall caught over 100 passes and 1,200 yards in 2007 and 2008, and scored a combine 13 touchdowns. Cutler targeted Marshall a league-leading 179 times in 2008. He clearly feeds the potentially troublesome receiver enough to keep him happy.

The two also seem to have incredible chemistry. At least that’s how Marshall described their relationship during a January radio appearance.

“It’s hard to find that and sometimes it’s once in a lifetime,” Marshall said, “…when you take two guys and put them on the field together and they have that chemistry, that’s what’s almost impossible to find. I can’t explain it. That’s why I said it’s almost painful to think about.

“We’ll line up there and we’ll get a coverage and he will just look at me and I’ll know exactly where he wants to adjust my route. You don’t find that. It got to a point where coaches, they didn’t know what we were doing so we’ll install a whole play and they’ll give us a play on the front side and put me on the back side and they’ll tell us just do what you all do and just make it work. We had a lot of freedom in our offense, and we made it work and chemistry was great. It was something special.”

Jeez man, Brandon was getting all Sixteen Candles on us there. So yeah, now he gets to rekindle his romance with Jay. I don’t know how you could dislike this deal for the Bears. Two third-round picks is not that much, especially for a talented player like Marshall. It’s actually a great deal for them, one that can make a huge difference.