Get those dirty Brandon Marshall thought out of your head

Toubled Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall has demanded a trade, just like his buddy Jay Cutler did many moons ago. And, just as with Cutler, the Broncos will honor Marshall's trade request and deal the Pro Bowl WR. And yes, as shake n bake so accurately phrased it, the Broncos are now a disaster thanks to the immature bungling of yet another Bill Belichick assistant-turned-head coach: Josh McDaniels. This is the off-season from hell for Denver. If they win three games next year with the mis-matched, untalented roster they have, they should consider themselves lucky. Their draft was horrible. They have little depth at several key positions. Their strength (offense) is now a weakness, and their weakness (defense) is still very much a weakness.

They just named former-Bears QB Kyle Orton their starting QB and signed former-Bears WR Brandon Lloyd. Orton, you might know, was part of the Jay Cutler trade, and last season he had Brandon Lloyd as a target in Chicago. This means that this off-season Denver has traded the Cutler-Marshall combination (104 receptions, 1,265 yards, 6 TDs) for the Orton-Lloyd connection (26 receptions, 364 yards, 2 TDs).

Dark days ahead for Denver. Very dark. The team should have hired Leslie Frazier as their head coach. Oh well.

While the dealing of Marshall will most certaily put Denver's passing attack into the stone age, from a character standpoint it makes sense. Marshall has always been an over-rated idiot of a receiver. We all remember him for his trash-talking during a 2007 regular season game, where he was caught on camera calling the then0defending Super Bowl champion Colts "soft." After the Colts thrashed the Broncos 38-20, Marshall was seen throwing a tamper tantrum on the sidelines.

Denver should have known then.

So, with the dismantling of the Broncos and the imminent trade of Brandon Marshall, the natural reaction of many fans from other teams (including our own) is to scream at their team's GM to GET BRANDON MARSHALL! But, for Bill Polian, any cries or pleas that the Colts should trade anything for Brandon Marshall should be dismissed outright. Seriously, if Denver offered a box or donuts and a pack of Pall Mall's for Marshall, I'd expect Polian to say no. To put it simply: The Colts don't need him. Their current starters at WR are better than Marshall.

Yes, even Anthony Gonzalez is better than Marshall. I said that in 2008, and I repeat it now. Gonzo. Is. Better. Than. Marshall.

He has better hands, runs better routes, and might even be faster than Marshall. I mean, Gonzo (as Indy's slot WR in 2008) averaged nearly 16 yards a catch. And if you are a big DVOA fan, Gonzalez destroys Marshall in WR efficiency. Then, factor in that Gonzo works harder, doesn't throw tempter tantrums, and doesn't injury himself slipping on McDonald's bags or get arrested for DUIs. Add it all up, and Gonzo is a better player than Marshall.

So, while it was dumb of Denver to purge their roster of the only player anyone on defense was even remotely frightened of, that player (Marshall) would have trouble cracking the starting lineup for their Colts offense. So, why would Indy trade value for such player who is also looking to get paid like Reggie Wayne (another receiver who is better than Brandon Marshall)?

Simple, they wouldn't.