Report: Bears to part ways with Brandon Marshall

[sturg78]

We've won a Superbowl and fixed our season to be in line for another by relying on the run. We don't need another prolific high dollar wr

 

[pehawk]

It came out last week that the Seahawks we're talking to Steve Smith this past offseason. So, they don't share the sentiment here about not needing a true #1. Pete's always dug the guy too. They'll definitely sniff around.

I'd love this move.

 

[volsunghawk]

My only concern with Marshall or any FA WR is that due to the nature of our offense, where the WR numbers aren't going to be big, and they'll be asked to block more than in some other locations, is that it might be hard to keep them happy - especially if they are used to putting up bigger numbers and looking for Pro Bowl accolades and whatnot. I mean, Sidney Rice seemed to adapt well enough, but I think he might be an exception rather than the rule.

I think we might have more success with guys who are brought up/trained in our system straight from the draft or UDFA, just due to them not having that other experience with a more pass-friendly team.

But again, that's my ONLY concern. All things being equal, I've read that Marshall has put a lot of his demons behind him, and he's an amazing receiver who I believe would boost our passing game significantly.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

I'd be in favor of the move for many reasons:

1. Seattle needs a WR playmaker. Harvin was essentially an athlete. Not a wide out.
2. The Harvin case was different. His acquisition came at an extreme price. We sacrificed way too much in hindsight. Getting Marshall would not involve the same costs. Nor would his acquisition require we change or identity in order to involve him fully in our offensive identity. Marshall is a fiesty/physical receiver who relishes physical play and would be a much better fit.
3. Success or failures of the past don't apply. I don't want my team to suddenly stop exploring avenues to improve the team. And I don't get the sense that Pete or John are the types to do that. Risk is just that. There is no predictive quality between past moves and future moves.

Ideally, I'd like Seattle to draft their own WRs. That's not always possible due to supply or opportunity. Solving the WR issue, even if it's temporary, means adding talent elsewhere on the team. This team is spending close to 30 milllion on our DL next year. That unit could really use some cheaper talent.

We've won a Superbowl and fixed our season to be in line for another by relying on the run. We don't need another prolific high dollar wr

I can see this sentiment. And I think the Harvin experience really cemented how important it is to not abandon who you are for change's sake.

But there is no denying that Seattle has an Achilles heel to the team. This team simply is below average both in 3rd down conversions and in red zone scoring. It's bad enough that it truly threatens to derail future title runs. This offense should be much better than it is. The benefits it's afforded by our outstanding defense should result in much better results. Having a WR option who can convert on those situations virtually on demand is literally a one move fix. Marshall, or other WRs that we're talking about don't have to be 'open' to be open. Think of how many throwaways and 3rd down failures could be converted into completions?

 

[SomersetHawk]

My only concern with Marshall or any FA WR is that due to the nature of our offense, where the WR numbers aren't going to be big, and they'll be asked to block more than in some other locations, is that it might be hard to keep them happy - especially if they are used to putting up bigger numbers and looking for Pro Bowl accolades and whatnot. I mean, Sidney Rice seemed to adapt well enough, but I think he might be an exception rather than the rule.

I think we might have more success with guys who are brought up/trained in our system straight from the draft or UDFA, just due to them not having that other experience with a more pass-friendly team.

But again, that's my ONLY concern. All things being equal, I've read that Marshall has put a lot of his demons behind him, and he's an amazing receiver who I believe would boost our passing game significantly.

I get this argument. I also think that the Percy ordeal could go against us too in that he was a big production player who we struggled to utilize (though it was possibly as much to do with him).

However, guys like Marshall, Fitz, Jackson might well value post-season accolades a little more than individual ones. They've all earned a very decent amount of money across their careers and might be willing to sacrifice a little money for a better chance at winning it all. More likely than a Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas or Randall Cobb anyway.

Also Doug Baldwin put up 825 yards in our offense last season, and would have probably been chasing that 1000 yard mark had he been our main receiver throughout the season. Not a stretch to think one of those guys could come in and outperform that. The 66 receptions is also more than Fitzgerald and Marshall had (albeit in three more starts) and only four short of Vincent Jackson's full season total.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Just say NO to expensive WRs until/unless we become a more pass-oriented offense.

Bingo.

Especially one that was a divisive a-hole in his locker room (sound familiar?), and is no longer worth his crazy salary. Jeffery is their #1 receiver now, that's why Marshall is expendable.

 

[kidhawk]

Just say NO to expensive WRs until/unless we become a more pass-oriented offense.

Don't agree with you much, but you're right on here.

I'm back and forth on the issue. We currently aren't a pass happy offense, but we may have to become one out of necessity. We will likely lose Lynch, if not after this season, than more than likely after next, and if we can't get more production from C-Mike and Turbo, we may find ourselves needing to pass more than we like. I think it might be wise to go ahead and pay someone on a more short term deal (2-3 years) and use our draft capital improving our O-line, and then let that receiver go when his contract is due and use that cap money elsewhere at that point. I am not sure Marshall is necessarily THAT guy, but I definitely miss having a guy like Sidney Rice as a go to in the Red Zone. Him and Tate are really the only receivers I've ever seen Wilson have the faith in to constantly just put the ball up and believe they'd come down with it.

 

[Hawkfan77]

Didn't we make a trade for Marshall that fell apart which is how he ended up in Miami?

This team has always wanted Marshall/a big WR that fits that profile. Here's a (most likely incomplete) list of WRs that this FO has either acquired or tried to acquire:

Mike Williams
Reggie Williams for a hot second
Brandon Marshall
Vincent Jackson
Sidney Rice
Kris Durham
Chris Mathews


All these WRs are 6'4 or taller. And I agree with the bad teammate garbage being overblown. He's competitive and wants to win and was probably the only Bears player that cared about winning...

And for the talk of not wanted "leftovers" and other teams castoffs we wouldn't have Lynch right now. Plus how about our DL? How many DL we will have playing this upcoming week was drafted by this FO?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Just say NO to expensive WRs until/unless we become a more pass-oriented offense.

Don't agree with you much, but you're right on here.

I'm back and forth on the issue. We currently aren't a pass happy offense, but we may have to become one out of necessity. We will likely lose Lynch, if not after this season, than more than likely after next, and if we can't get more production from C-Mike and Turbo, we may find ourselves needing to pass more than we like. I think it might be wise to go ahead and pay someone on a more short term deal (2-3 years) and use our draft capital improving our O-line, and then let that receiver go when his contract is due and use that cap money elsewhere at that point. I am not sure Marshall is necessarily THAT guy, but I definitely miss having a guy like Sidney Rice as a go to in the Red Zone. Him and Tate are really the only receivers I've ever seen Wilson have the faith in to constantly just put the ball up and believe they'd come down with it.

While you're right, I don't think as long as Pete's here he will ever deviate from the physical run first style of offense............even if Lynch isn't here.

We'd either see if C-Mike/Turbin can handle the load, or we'd draft or go out and find another RB to fit the system.

I think Pete and John learned their lesson with Harvin, tying up 10M + a year in a WR that's only going to catch 50 balls a year isn't cap prudent.

 

[raisethe3]

Marshall fits the big type of receivers that Seahawks would like. But as pointed out, he may be a locker room cancer. If he can change his attitude and accept a lower salary, I'm all in to trying him out.

 

[Hawkfan77]

While you're right, I don't think as long as Pete's here he will ever deviate from the physical run first style of offense............even if Lynch isn't here.

We'd either see if C-Mike/Turbin can handle the load, or we'd draft or go out and find another RB to fit the system.

I think Pete and John learned their lesson with Harvin, tying up 10M + a year in a WR that's only going to catch 50 balls a year isn't cap prudent.

I'd actually go the complete opposite of that. Because the rumors were the Hawks reached out to Steve Smith this past off season after he was cut by the Panthers. So even with Harvin here, they missed out on Smith and then drafted 2 WRs including one with our first pick in the draft.

I don't think they pigeon hole themselves in any way. I think if they see an upgrade they will pursue it and not pigeonhole themselves out of upgrading certain positions. It's not like they'll say "well Harvin didn't work out so that means we will never go and sign a big time WR again" this FO just doesn't work that way. If they evaluate the WR position in the off season and believe it needs further upgrades, I don't think they will leave any stone unturned because they never have.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Bears claiming locker room cancer. Didn't we learn anything from the Percy experiment? Let's just see how our rookie receivers pan out before taking on other teams garbage.

Brandon Marshall isn't garbage he is one of the few veteran WR's worth taking a chance on. Just make everything incentive laden and protect yourself in the language of the contract if you're so worried about him.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

While you're right, I don't think as long as Pete's here he will ever deviate from the physical run first style of offense............even if Lynch isn't here.

We'd either see if C-Mike/Turbin can handle the load, or we'd draft or go out and find another RB to fit the system.

I think Pete and John learned their lesson with Harvin, tying up 10M + a year in a WR that's only going to catch 50 balls a year isn't cap prudent.

I'd actually go the complete opposite of that. Because the rumors were the Hawks reached out to Steve Smith this past off season after he was cut by the Panthers. So even with Harvin here, they missed out on Smith and then drafted 2 WRs including one with our first pick in the draft.

I don't think they pigeon hole themselves in any way. I think if they see an upgrade they will pursue it and not pigeonhole themselves out of upgrading certain positions. It's not like they'll say "well Harvin didn't work out so that means we will never go and sign a big time WR again" this FO just doesn't work that way. If they evaluate the WR position in the off season and believe it needs further upgrades, I don't think they will leave any stone unturned because they never have.

But Smith's only making 3-4M a year, so that's not a crazy cap hit for a dependable tough WR.

Even Pete said when we signed Harvin that normally we wouldn't commit that much cap to a WR, but that he was a special dynamic player that was expected to be a huge part of our offense.

This should tell us they wouldn't spend that kind of money on a prototypical WR like Marshall.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Just say NO to expensive WRs until/unless we become a more pass-oriented offense.

Don't agree with you much, but you're right on here.

I'm back and forth on the issue. We currently aren't a pass happy offense, but we may have to become one out of necessity. We will likely lose Lynch, if not after this season, than more than likely after next, and if we can't get more production from C-Mike and Turbo, we may find ourselves needing to pass more than we like. I think it might be wise to go ahead and pay someone on a more short term deal (2-3 years) and use our draft capital improving our O-line, and then let that receiver go when his contract is due and use that cap money elsewhere at that point. I am not sure Marshall is necessarily THAT guy, but I definitely miss having a guy like Sidney Rice as a go to in the Red Zone. Him and Tate are really the only receivers I've ever seen Wilson have the faith in to constantly just put the ball up and believe they'd come down with it.

While you're right, I don't think as long as Pete's here he will ever deviate from the physical run first style of offense............even if Lynch isn't here.

We'd either see if C-Mike/Turbin can handle the load, or we'd draft or go out and find another RB to fit the system.

I think Pete and John learned their lesson with Harvin, tying up 10M + a year in a WR that's only going to catch 50 balls a year isn't cap prudent.

No, tying up 10M+ in a WR receiver that refuses to run routes beyond 2 yards isn't cap prudent is what you mean to say. Luckily this FO doesn't run things the way you guys prefer they take chances on players of elite talent and sometimes it works out and sometimes not but neither outcome will stop them from doing so and becoming one that NEVER takes a risk.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

No, tying up 10M+ in a WR receiver that refuses to run routes beyond 2 yards isn't cap prudent is what you mean to say. Luckily this FO doesn't run things the way you guys prefer they take chances on players of elite talent and sometimes it works out and sometimes not but neither outcome will stop them from doing so and becoming one that NEVER takes a risk.

You think Marshall is elite talent for over 10M a year at age 30 who was injured pretty much the entire year with three years still left on his deal?

No thanks.

 

[razgriz737]

If the price is right, oh man, I would be doing back flips.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

No, tying up 10M+ in a WR receiver that refuses to run routes beyond 2 yards isn't cap prudent is what you mean to say. Luckily this FO doesn't run things the way you guys prefer they take chances on players of elite talent and sometimes it works out and sometimes not but neither outcome will stop them from doing so and becoming one that NEVER takes a risk.

You think Marshall is elite talent for over 10M a year at age 30 who was injured pretty much the entire year with three years still left on his deal?

No thanks.

I wouldn't pay him that much purely because of age but he is totally worth the risk for 5-7M a year. Though if they insist on getting another FA WR I would try and swing something for Justin Blackmon or Josh Gordon if possible.

 

[kidhawk]

No, tying up 10M+ in a WR receiver that refuses to run routes beyond 2 yards isn't cap prudent is what you mean to say. Luckily this FO doesn't run things the way you guys prefer they take chances on players of elite talent and sometimes it works out and sometimes not but neither outcome will stop them from doing so and becoming one that NEVER takes a risk.

You think Marshall is elite talent for over 10M a year at age 30 who was injured pretty much the entire year with three years still left on his deal?

No thanks.

I wouldn't pay him that much purely because of age but he is totally worth the risk for 5-7M a year. Though if they insist on getting another FA WR I would try and swing something for Justin Blackmon or Josh Gordon if possible.

Currently the Bears are on the hook for over $13 million in dead money if they release him. If they trade him, then they will only have to eat $5.625 million. His Current 2015 salary of $7.5 million is guaranteed. I would think that they would trade him away for a song and a dance for any team willing to take on his contract. If we did, we'd have to eat the $7.5 million of this year but after that there'd be absolutely zero consequence for releasing him. This works well for us, because even though we need to extend guys like Wagner and Wilson, they the only bit of cap space they'd eat up would be a pro-rated portion of their signing bonus, leaving quite a bit of cap space to work with this season. That $7.5 million wouldn't be that bad considering that fact along with the fact that we could then release him after the season with no cap worries.

Of course Marshall may want a new contract if he's traded, and the Bears may not find any willing trade partners. Under that scenario, the Bears would release him and still pay him for 2015.

I'm on the fence about Marshall on a personality level, but talent level is undeniable and he does fit the type of receiver we sorely miss with Rice gone.

 

[Jville]

Brandon Marshall? I think that ship has sailed for the Seahawks. Most of the named veterans they brought in past few years were brought in to patch together a competitive offense.That allowed them to use picks on building a defense that grew up together.

Today, they are solidifying what they have built on defense thru contract extensions of core players. Ddefensive additions are more of a talent maintenance effort. Today, they have the opportunity to bring in young players to build around an evolving offense. Young additions that will strengthen that offense as they grow together. Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood are excellent additions who were among the more mature receivers available in the most recent draft.

 

[onanygivensunday]

Pass.

There's only one ball and it's currently being shared between Marshawn, Turbo, ADB, Kearse, and Richardson... not to mention Michael, Norwood and our TEs.

I'd rather we draft and develop our future WRs.