Is the pressure already getting to Brandon Marshall in Miami?

MIAMI - AUGUST 14: Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall  of the Miami Dolphins warms up prior to playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a preseason game at Sun Life Stadium on August 14, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

It was only one scrimmage.

It was only one preseason game.

The head coach isn’t even worried, so why should anyone else be?

If those who follow the Dolphins want to take any of the above stances when it comes to Brandon Marshall’s recent struggles in South Beach, I wouldn’t blame them. After all, it’s only the second week of the preseason and we’re still weeks away from the games actually counting.

But given his history with behavioral issues, why wouldn’t people be concerned?

Marshall followed up a poor showing in a scrimmage two weeks ago by dropping the only two passes that were thrown to him during Miami’s first preseason game last weekend. Then, and stop me if you’ve already heard this one, during a practice session on Monday he reportedly dropped a pass in the end zone and then punted it over a fence. He proceeded to stand by himself, sulking on the sidelines afterwards.

Head coach Tony Sparano shrugged off the kicking incident by saying, “I didn’t see it, but I got bigger fish to fry…If he drops them and he gets pissed off at himself about dropping them, I’m okay with that.”

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Bengals show interest in Marshall, but is it just a smokescreen?

Via his Twitter page, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Bengals have contemplated pursuing restricted free agent Brandon Marshall, although no visit has been arranged yet.

Despite that report, Bengals’ beat writer Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the rumors on Marshall to the Bengals are mostly a smoke screen meant to drive up the price for the Seahawks, who hosted Marshall over the weekend.

Not to discredit Reedy’s reporting, but why would the Bengals want to drive up the price for the Seahawks? Seattle plays in a completely different conference than Cincinnati and one would think that the Bengals would be concentrating on signing their own free agents instead of faking interest in Marshall just to tease the Seahawks. But who knows at this point.

Schefter also writes that his ESPN collegue Mike Tirico recently bumped into Marshall in Denver and the receiver said the visit to Seattle was “great.” Marshall apparently also told Tirico that he is still very open to saying in Denver.


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Brandon Marshall in Seattle for a visit, but who else is interested?

Things could be heating up on the Brandon Marshall trade front. Here’s what we know so far:

– On Saturday, Marshall was reportedly in Seattle doing a meet-and-greet with the Seahawks. While they didn’t sign the restricted free agent to an offer sheet, the Seattle Times speculates that the Seahawks would send the No. 6 overall pick in April’s draft to the Broncos for Marshall.

If that sounds far-fetched, it’s probably because it is. In fact, ESPN NFC West beat writer Mike Sando says that he would be shocked if the Hawks parted with their top pick, although that doesn’t mean the two sides can’t work out another trade if Marshall is signed to an offer sheet.

– Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post writes that the Seahawks could have competition for Marshall shortly, although he doesn’t say which teams could be interested. The very reliable Rotoworld.com speculates that the Patriots, Falcons and Bengals make sense.

Out of the three teams Rotoworld mentions, I think the Patriots and Bengals do make sense, although I highly doubt the Falcons would join the party. While they would love to add another big time playmaker opposite Roddy White, I doubt they’ll part with their first round pick (19th overall) to address the offensive side of the ball with holes at outside linebacker and defensive end. GM Thomas Dimitroff would like to continue his rebuilding project on defense and it makes it harder for him to do that without a first round pick. I think Dunta Robinson was the only big splash the Falcons will make this offseason.

We’ll monitor this situation next week and see if a) the Seahawks eventually sign Marshall to an offer sheet and/or b) another team joins the race.


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Broncos’ Marshall says he’ll be in camp

If you thought Brandon Marshall would give up $14,000 a day just because he’s a little ticked off at the Broncos well then you, my friend, are sadly mistaken. The disgruntled receiver said that he would be in attendance when the Broncos open training camp on July 27.

“It’s $14,000 a day if I miss. So I will be there. I’m not stupid.”

The last line in his comment is up for debate seeing as how he’s been in no less than eight off field incidents involving authorities since 2004, including situations involving domestic violence, DUIs and misdemeanor battery charges. He might not be stupid, but he’s a long ways away from being intelligent.

That said, at least this ends the debate of whether or not Marshall will be in camp come the end of the month. While his reasons (money, money, money, money, money – MON-AY!) for being in camp are completely self-absorbed, so were his reasons for potentially holding out too. He’s upset that he’s still playing on his rookie contract and while he is underpaid given his production to this point in his career, who could blame Denver for not wanting to pony up for a guy who could wind up in jail at any given time during the day?

Chances are, Marshall is going to make things messy for the Broncos in camp. He’ll openly bitch about his contract and his desire to be traded, and then the front office will have to decide whether or not to keep the distraction around, or try and trade him for some decent compensation. Either way, just because Marshall is reporting to camp, doesn’t mean that this situation has been resolved.

Brandon Marshall avoids suspension

According to a report by the Denver Post, Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall will avoid suspension stemming from an early March disorderly conduct arrest in which the charges were eventually dropped.

“The NFL has confirmed that based on their own investigation there will not be a suspension or any discipline issues as a result of Mr. Marshall’s arrest on March 1,” said Marshall’s attorney Harvey Steinberg. “I had been in touch with the NFL since right after the incident occurred and we were under the belief that what took place would not rise to the level of any form of discipline.”

Marshall is still facing a court case later this month in Atlanta stemming from misdemeanor battery charges against his former girlfriend, Rasheedah Watley. That case, however, is expected to be continued to a later date, which means onceMarshall recovers from offseason hip surgery, he can concentrate on the 2009 season.

Let’s hope Marshall doesn’t celebrate the news by boozing tonight and punching an innocent bystander in the face.

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