Broncos Must Send Marshall Packing

INDIANAPOLIS -- Josh McDaniels has had his eyes focused on the NFL combine here and his ears locked on the news flowing from the courtroom back in Denver on the Darrent Williams murder trial. It is a combine ballet that no other NFL coach has had to perform. It is clearly one that McDaniels would rather have skipped.

But he cannot, especially since his star and troubled receiver, Brandon Marshall, on Friday in that Denver courtroom jolted the proceedings with his admission that he escalated a fight with the men charged with the early New Year's Day 2007 shooting.

McDaniels completed his first year as Broncos coach with an 8-8, non-playoff season that began with 6-0 and 8-4 starts. His debut season was sprinkled with his own clashes with Marshall. He said he and his staff are reviewing everything about the season and will make a decision soon on whether to retain Marshall or seek to trade him.

There is not much of a decision to make.

Marshall has to go.

McDaniels decided early into his Broncos stint that quarterback Jay Cutler had to go. If he could not work with Cutler, how can he possibly decide that he can make it work with and count on Marshall? I don't see it. Few in the NFL do.

Marshall has to go.

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McDaniels said the Broncos are in the process of making their decision. He said that he can "absolutely'' move forward with Marshall. That sounds more like a guy playing poker. Talk him up, keep his value as high as you can. But all cards are evident in this one.
Marshall, despite his big-play productivity, is nothing close to the kind of character that McDaniels wants to build this franchise around.
He has a fan base that definitively wants Marshall out of town and a team watching to see if his preaching of accountability and team-first attitude sticks when it comes to this bombastic player. Marshall, despite his big-play productivity, is nothing close to the kind of character that McDaniels wants to build this franchise around.

McDaniels wants to push things forward in his vision. He will dump the Broncos' long-time zone-blocking scheme for one that features bigger and more powerful linemen. He wants offensive players who understand that on every play each of the 11 on the field has an imperative job to do regardless of if the ball is in their hands. He wants a defense that blitzes less and relies more on sound technique, hence the departure of defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, now in Miami.

He wants to continue to implement his philosophies of what a player should be on and off the field. He wants more Brian Dawkins-types, as any coach would want when considering this savvy safety who arrived from Philadelphia last season and helped McDaniels begin to transform the Broncos into his image.

There is no room for Brandon Marshall in any of that.

Marshall has to go.

I asked McDaniels here on Saturday afternoon about his desire to move the franchise forward while being forcefully strapped to the past in a situation like the Williams trial. A situation that he cannot control, one that is as current -- with the Williams trial on-going -- as his fresh blueprint.

"You can't make all the changes you would like at the same time and I realize that," McDaniels said. "You just have to constantly adjust.''

McDaniels, 33, is energetic and determined.

How about patient?

"I have the patience to deal with these things,'' McDaniels said about the Broncos having one foot in the past and the other moving forward. He said little in the NFL rolls in perfect order.

But there is a huge difference between patience and chaos.

Bringing Marshall back would give the Broncos more chaos likely sooner rather than later. There is little doubt that had former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan returned for last season rather than being dismissed, Marshall would have been gone before it began. The former Broncos coaching staff saw the splendid production of Marshall mixed with the often impish attitude he displayed and the messy personal entourage he selected. That made it clear to them that Marshall in Denver would not have been able to handle a long-term, big-dollar contract.

McDaniels addressed how the Broncos in the last two seasons under two different leaders have faded terribly late in each season.

"You've got to look at a lot of things,'' he said. "And we know that. We've got to look at the entire offseason, the OTAs, the bye week, our in-season training, everything we can. We are certain to make changes once we find some answers. And you can be certain that one thing that will happen is that once we reach the halfway mark in this new season, the adrenaline throughout the building will be blown up.''

Well before that, the Broncos have to blow up this marriage with Marshall.

Marshall has to go.