When reports first broke this morning indicating that Miami had acquired wide receiver Brandon Marshall from Denver, I was surprised to say the least.

Up to this point, the Broncos had remained adamant in their desire to receive a first round pick back in exchange for Marshall’s services, and I couldn’t fathom Bill Parcells sending the #12 overall selection out west to the Mile High City to get a player that’s one strike away from a long suspension.

But after learning that the trade involved just a second round pick this year along with another second round pick next year, things began to make sense for me, and I can understand why the deal was completed so quickly.

In Marshall, the Dolphins now have a player that is arguably the top receiver in the game right now, and will undoubtedly make Miami’s offense much better next season. Granted there are plenty of issues behind the scenes with Marshall and the risk is definitely present given his past history of off the field transgressions. But it’s not very often that a trade of this magnitude comes along, allowing a young, superbly talented, playmaking wide receiver in his prime to exit his team and join a intra-conference foe, and as such, the Dolphins were wise to jump on it as quickly as they did.

As for the Broncos, getting back a high second round pick this year and a second round selection next year has to be pleasing as well. Not only were they able to rid themselves of a player who was the cause of team chemistry issues last season, but they were able to haul in an outstanding return in the process, setting themselves up for a draft class that could send them skyrocketing back into Super Bowl contention in a hurry.

Losing Marshall from their offense will hurt initially… there’s little doubt of that. But in the grand scheme of things, the addition of what should be two high quality players from the two draft picks sent their way courtesy of Miami will be a major plus to the organization. And if there’s one thing that Denver head coach Josh McDaniels learned during his time in New England with Bill Belichick, it’s that the big picture is always more important than the here and now.

Both teams got what they needed from this deal, and both should be better as a result. Time will tell which of the two ended up on top, but for now it’s a win-win situation all the way around.

No related posts.