Brandon Marshall was released by the New York Jets recently. The Buffalo Bills should resist the temptation to go after him and avoid pursuing the controversial receiver.
The Buffalo Bills are in need of serious help at wide receiver. While they have Sammy Watkins, he is coming off an injury ridden season and had another surgery on his foot since the end of the year. When a wide receiver has foot surgery in the offseason it’s always an alarming sign for a team.
On top of that, the Bills second best wide receiver, Robert Woods, is set to hit free agency and according to Spotrac.com, he has an estimated market value of $8 million per year. That’s a lot of money for a receiver who has yet to top 700 yards in a season even if he is a good blocker and team player. Woods has had to overcome the Bills quarterback situation over his four-year career but he still has not shown enough to merit that salary especially considering he has only played 16 games in a season once in four years.
In addition to Woods, Percy Harvin, Justin Hunter, Marquise Goodwin and Brandon Tate are all unrestricted free agents this offseason. The Bills may bring some of these players back but they need to restock the position in a major way. With that said, when there is a rumor of a wide receiver being traded or cut, the Bills name will surely be mentioned as a potential suitor.
That was the case when the New York Jets recently decided to part ways with Brandon Marshall at his request. According to Adam Schefter, the team offered him an extension but he turned it down because they are clearly in rebuilding mode.
One source close to Brandon Marshall texted: "Really appreciate Jets for giving him the opportunity and they did offer him an extension."
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2017
Marshall has been in the league for 11 years with four different teams and has yet to play in a playoff game. It’s not likely that Buffalo, who has the longest playoff drought in the NFL, would entice him but even if it would, the Bills should stay away from Brandon Marshall.
Marshall does have some ties to Buffalo. The Bills new offensive coordinator Rick Dennison was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for Marshall’s first four years in the league while he was in Denver from 2006 to 2009. Despite the link, signing Marshall would be a terrible idea for the Bills.
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First, let me point out that any scenario in which Marshall signs with Buffalo would almost certainly mean that they exercised the option in Tyrod Taylor’s contract leaving the team with $18.2 million in cap space according to OverTheCap.com. Marshall is not going to come to Buffalo to play in an uncertain quarterback situation with a team in rebuilding mode and so he would only consider it with Tyrod at the helm.
Marshall’s next contract might be very affordable for whoever signs him. Spotrac.com estimates his market value to be $4.9 million per year over a two-year deal. That number could go higher based on the Antonio Brown’s monster four-year, $68 million contract this offseason which could skew all the salaries at the position higher in free agency.
Besides his affordability, Marshall could make sense in Buffalo because he has experience as a team’s top wide receiver and should Sammy Watkins be limited again next year, he could slide into that role for the Bills. He also is tall at 6’4 and could replace Justin Hunter in the Bills offense as a red zone threat.
Despite these attributes, there are many reasons why his estimated market value is only $4.9 million per year and those reasons are exactly why Buffalo should avoid him. Marshall will be 33 years old by the start of the next NFL season. He’s had the two worst seasons of his career since his rookie campaign in the past three years. After seven straight 1,000 yard seasons, he’s had just one in the past three years. Last season he averaged just 52.5 yards per game which is hardly impressive.
Buffalo doesn’t have an established quarterback on the roster at this point even if they bring Tyrod back. Marshall has a very strong personality and has clashed with his signal callers in the past, most notably Jay Cutler. Additionally, last season he clashed with DT Sheldon Richardson in the locker room on more than one occasion. While Richardson is no angel, it’s still not a good look.
On top of clashing with teammates, Marshall has a very long legal history. He’s been arrested for suspicion of domestic violence, a DUI and was stabbed by his wife in the stomach among other things.
Marshall’s strong personality has divided locker rooms in the past. Pair that with his history of off the field issues, and his age, and he becomes too big of a risk for Buffalo. Marshall has been traded three times in his career and each time has been traded for less value, hardly an encouraging sign.
He was originally traded from Denver to Miami for two 2nd round picks. Then he was traded from Miami to Chicago for two 3rd round picks. Finally, he was traded from Chicago along with a 7th round draft pick to the Jets for their fifth round pick. Teams seem eager to rid their locker room of his presence and Buffalo does not have a strong enough locker room right now to handle someone with as big of a personality as Marshall.
The Bills would be better off targeting someone like Kenny Britt who is younger by four years. Britt had his best year with Rams last year with over 1,000 yards receiving despite a less than ideal quarterback situation. Britt is also tall like Marshall at 6’3 and while Spotrac.com estimates his market value at $6.7 million per season, he doesn’t come with a lot of the baggage that Marshall does making him worth the additional money while still cheaper than Robert Woods.
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Brandon Marshall might have a little left in his tank but he’s too high of a risk for the Bills with not enough chance for reward. General manager Doug Whaley would be wise to look elsewhere to restock their wide receiver corps this offseason.