According to a report by the Denver Post, the Broncos have lifted disgruntled receiver Brandon Marshall’s suspension.

The Broncos formally turned in the paperwork to the league office Sunday to lift wide receiver Brandon Marshall’s suspension.

Marshall was at the team’s Dove Valley complex for meetings and took part in a practice as well.

We’ll see if Marshall can turn this issue into a positive one and get his career back on track. It’s a shame for a player to have that much potential and waste on such a horrible attitude.

Of course, Marshall could have gone into training camp after his hip healed and been a model citizen in order to avoid all of this. But he didn’t – he decided to act like a child and sink his trade value to an all-time low.

Time will tell if the light bulb went off in his head.

Looking at the Brandon Marshall situation with a purely fantasy eye, his suspension for the remainder of the preseason may create an environment where the troublesome wide receiver becomes a value on draft day.

After news of the suspension broke, a fellow owner in my slow auction league nominated him for bidding. I won him for $21, which was 5% of my total payroll (or about two-thirds his pre-suspension value). Here’s what Joe Bryant (of Footballguys.com) had to say in a recent email:

Marshall will probably fall out of the top 100 picks in most drafts now. We would still take a chance on him around the 9th/10th round range in PPR leagues, because if this really goes completely sour, you can cut him for the WW flavor of the week, but if he straightens out, he’ll be the rare top 20 WR you can get out of the top 100.

But this hasn’t been the case, at least not yet. According to Antsports, in 12-team redraft leagues from 8/29-8/31, his ADP dropped from the late third into the early fifth. I had a keeper league that drafted this Sunday, and Marshall went in the middle of the sixth. (I realize that in a keeper league, his value will be somewhat higher because of his long-term value in the league.)

Other owners are going to be scared off by Marshall’s ridiculously bad offseason. But the bottom line is that he’s in a contract year, and if he wants to score a big payday, he’s going to need to show up and act like a professional. At least this what I hope his agent is telling him on a daily basis during his suspension.

There are some indications that the Broncos are willing to work with Marshall this year. The suspension itself was only for the preseason, and if he behaves, he could very well be on the field for the team’s opener. This is a clear sign that the Broncos value Marshall and what he can do for the team. They are not yet at the point where he’s too much of a headache to deal with. Moreover, Josh McDaniels spoke about the situation at the most recent preseason game and he seemed optimistic about the WR’s short-term future.

The driving force behind Marshall’s future is Marshall himself. If he wants a fat contract, he needs to shut his mouth and play out his current deal. If he performs up to his usual standard, some team will forget about all of this and will give him the kind of contract he’s looking for. From a fantasy point of view, this makes Marshall a risk, but a worthwhile risk in the middle rounds. If he realizes his situation, swallows his pride, and acts like a professional, he can get the kind of money he wants. This is why I’m optimistic about Brandon Marshall in 2009.

Given what we know right now, his ADP of 5.05 sounds about right. I’d take him after Eddie Royal, DeSean Jackson and Vincent Jackson, but before Santonio Holmes, Antonio Bryant and Santana Moss.

Of course, he could completely flake out and get suspended for the entire season, a la Keyshawn Johnson.

Don’t you love fantasy football?

ESPN’s Ed Werder is reporting that Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels has informed disgruntled receiver Brandon Marshall that he has been suspended.

Here’s some of the highlights from Werder’s report on ESPN’s “First Take” on Friday morning:

– The suspension stems from Marshall’s antics at a practice on Wednesday morning in which he punted balls after catching them (instead of handing them to ball boys), swatting away a pass that was thrown to him and for general insubordination.

– Werder presumes that Marshall has been suspended without pay, but the length of the suspension has yet to be confirmed.

– Werder doesn’t believe that this suspension will amp up trade talks, as the Broncos will have trouble getting fair compensation for Marshall’s talent. Denver reportedly is seeking a first and a fourth round draft pick.

I don’t know how Marshall will respond to this suspension, but if he were smart, he’d take the opportunity to wipe the slate clean. He’s not going to get what he wants from the Broncos (or any other team for that matter) if he continues to act in the manner he has. Call me crazy, but teams generally don’t like it when players have multiple off-field issues, bitch about their contract, admit to not learning the playbook and then are insubordinate in practice.

If he wants to butt heads with McDaniels or the Broncos, Marshall is going to continue to have these problems. If he owns up to his actions, then maybe the two sides can come to some kind of resolution. But just like a kid who stomps his feet and draws on the walls in an effort to get what he wants, Marshall is going to find getting that new contract a bit difficult if he continues on the path he’s on.

This is getting ugly. Obviously, this kind of news will continue to depress Marshall’s stock. He’s regularly available in the 4th round of fantasy drafts, and as this news permeates the public, I wouldn’t be surprised if it dropped even further. Likewise, this is going to hurt Kyle Orton’s stock, as he would benefit from having as many options as possible in the passing game.

Conversely, Eddie Royal’s stock has been on a slow and steady march upwards ever since Marshall’s injury and attitude became public. He’s been going in the early 5th in 12-team leagues, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually overtakes Marshall in the next couple of weeks. Tony Scheffler, Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Stokley will also be helped by Marshall’s potential absence.

If the Marshall and the team can’t put this behind them, then the Broncos needs to move Marshall to rid themselves of the headache. Maybe they aren’t going to get a pick commensurate to his talent, but that’s not his true value. Teams trading for Marshall can see how he’s acting and his personality and work ethic have to be taken into account.

According to the Denver Post, Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall has been found not guilty in his misdemeanor battery case and won’t be suspended for this upcoming season (or at least not stemming from this situation).

Next up for Marshall: Recovering from hip surgery. He has been out the past two weeks with a leg injury. But first things first. A guilty verdict on battery most certainly potentially would have put Marshall in front of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for further discipline. Not now. Once Marshall is able, and once Marshall is willing _ (another question, perhaps?) _ he will be free to become the Broncos’ top receiver again.

This wasn’t the first time that Marshall has found himself in trouble with the law, but hopefully for his sake (and the Broncos’), it’s the last. If he were found guilty, he likely would have faced stiff punishment from the league.

Even though Marshall was found not guilty, neither the Broncos nor another team will want to hand him a multimillion-dollar deal (he becomes a free agent at the end of the season) knowing that he has had legal problems in the past. So it would behoove him to focus on his rehab and not cause another stink about his contract situation.

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Marshall vents any more about his contract and/or how he wants to be traded.

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.