It was only a matter of time.
Jay Cutler is now the quarterback of the
Chicago Bears. The Bears lack a proven No. 1 receiver.
Brandon Marshall was Cutler's favorite target last season for the
Denver Broncos. Marshall is unhappy about his current contract situation in Denver. Add those four sentences together and what comes out? A
"rumor" about Marshall being traded to the Bears -- who do have the cap space to take on Marshall and give him a raise.
Now, let us take this all with a grain of salt at this point. The Broncos still insist Marshall is not going to be traded, and the linked discussion of Marshall-to-the-Bears was kick-started by a fan email. Still, the idea makes too much sense from the Bears' perspective to completely ignore.
We've covered
several times how the Bears receiving corps isn't nearly as bad as advertised, but they would greatly benefit in a one-person depth chart slide. Meaning, if Marshall was added,
Devin Hester would be the WR2 while
Earl Bennett and
Juaquin Iglesias would be the WR3 and WR4, respectively;
Rashied Davis would simply offer depth and special teams play. Throw in
Matt Forte from the backfield and tight end
Greg Olsen, and it's actually a pretty scary bunch comprising Cutler's weaponry.
Still, some hurdles would have to be cleared. First of all, the Broncos would actually have to decide to trade Marshall -- and they are reportedly far from doing so. It's not likely
Pat Bowlen or
Josh McDaniels could survive the public relations fiasco that would surely follow dealing both Cutler and Marshall in the same offseason.
If they did decide to take this leap, though, could the Bears muster up enough to outbid teams like the Jets, Buccaneers and Eagles? The Bears aren't in the position to offer a proven receiver back, considering they won't deal Hester. They already gave the Broncos their 2010 first-round draft pick for Cutler. Would a second-round pick be enough, and, if so, would Bears general manager
Jerry Angelo want to go through another Day 1 of the draft without a single pick? I'm inclined to say the Cutler and Marshall tandem is worth it, but some other holes could arise during the season, and it's hard to build a complete team with a lack of early round draft picks.
Any team interested in Marshall would need to do their due diligence regarding the health of the star receiver. He had hip surgery on April 1. It's possible this could cripple his trade value for Denver, or merely be an excuse for him to sit out training camp while pressing the team for more money -- or a trade.
Another layer to the so-far-unsubstantiated-rumor is the off-field issues possessed by Marshall. The Bears cut ties with both
Tank Johnson and
Cedric Benson due to legal troubles, and Marshall has had plenty of his own. When discussing possible interest in
Plaxico Burress, though, Angelo indicated they would weigh possible on-field production with off-field issues and
decide whether or not the reward is worth the risk. If they did so with Marshall, it's likely they'd find it's worth the risk.
The 25-year-old Marshall stands 6-foot-4, and is as explosive deep as anyone in the league. In 2007, he caught 102 passes for 1,325 yards and 7 touchdowns. In 2008, he grabbed 104 passes for 1,265 yards and 6 touchdowns. The added bonus for the Bears would be that he accrued the overwhelming majority of these stats with Cutler as his quarterback.
Marshall, for his part, seems very serious in his stance for a contract extension and may force the Broncos hand like Cutler did. He's already given up
more than $35,000 by skipping minicamp this past weekend. People don't forfeit a teacher's salary on a whim. He's dead serious with this holdout and is saying it might bleed into the regular season if need be.
In time, the Broncos might have to get serious about fielding offers. If that happens, they can expect to hear a bevy of phone calls, including one from a familiar voice -- Mr. Jerry Angelo
Subject: denver agrees to trade marshall rumors where to 
