Disgruntled Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall has made it known that he wants out of town. With his off-field issues and injury history, is any team willing to take “Baby T.O.” for a one-year test run for a king’s ransom?

This morning, news broke out of New York that the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets were “exploring the wide receiver market” and that Marshall is the biggest name they are targeting.

The Broncos have made it clear that they are not interested in trading away their Pro Bowl receiver and appear ready to make him play out the final year of his rookie contract.

Marshall has demanded a trade from the Broncos because he is not even in the top 50 of highest paid wide receivers, and his roughly $2.2 million haul in 2009 is apparently embarrassing. 

Some fans feel Marshall has good reason to be upset. Only New England’s Wes Welker has caught more passes than Marshall’s 206 over the last two seasons, and last year he made his first career Pro Bowl appearance.

So, on the Madden video game, it would appear Marshall is more than overdue for a contract renewal.

Too bad this is real life. Marshall has also been a bonehead off the gridiron, to say the very least.

He has been arrested more than a dozen times since arriving in Denver, and he has had at least one injury per season since 2006. He has not proven that he can stay out of jail or off the injury list for a full NFL season, so the Broncos refuse to renegotiate his contract until he does such.

Marshall would likely have agreed to play this season out had the Broncos not traded quarterback Jay Cutler, the Pro Bowl quarterback Denver traded to Chicago early in March.

Why would he have been willing to wait if the Broncos still had their former gunslinger?

Well, when Cutler was in Denver, no quarterback threw the football to his receiver more times than Cutler did to Marshall. In fact, it was not even really close.

If you are wondering why Marshall has been among the league leaders in dropped passes over the last couple of years, it is because he has been thrown to roughly 275 times in that time frame.

So now, with Kyle Orton under center, Marshall is sure to get the ball thrown his way fewer times; thus his numbers will take a drop.

The Broncos appear to be happy with their core of receivers (seen pictured) even if Marshall does decide to hold out, which is probably why the former fourth round pick out of UCF is willing to let his play do the talking.

The Broncos hold all of the “cards” in this situation. Marshall has no leverage. He is coming off of a serious hip injury/surgery and has yet to fully grasp the offense that has been implemented by head coach Josh McDaniels.

Also, a quick disclaimer to those who think this Marshall situation is the fault of McDaniels: You could not be more wrong.

In fact, if anyone is to blame here, it is Marshall and Marshall alone. 

Marshall recently reiterated his desire to be traded after the Broncos refused to give him a new contract, despite the fact that Marshall was acquitted of his final legal issue.

He figured that the Broncos were waiting to give him an extension until he got out of trouble with the law, but that is not the case in the least.

Marshall is so far behind in learning the offense that he is practicing with the second unit on offense. While one should not read too much into that situation, it is worth noting heading into the second preseason game.

The Broncos also recently felt obligated to apologize to Marshall when a public relations employee told players not to congratulate Marshall for his acquittal, but to say they are happy the team can finally move on from it.

So why would the New York Jets want this headache on their hands?

For one, outside of Jerricho Cotchery, their wide receiver situation is spotty at best. They lost Laveranues Coles this offseason, and their No. 2 receiver has been a “flavor of the day” all offseason long.

They also have to think about the development of their young quarterback Mark Sanchez, who could use a big target like Marshall in the passing game.

If the Jets are serious about Marshall, then they had better be prepared to blow the Broncos away with a trade offer, because Denver is not going to give him up for nothing.

It would likely take the Jets giving up not only one of their better players, but a high draft pick as well—something along the lines of wide receiver Cotchery and a first round pick. 

A prize like that leads many including this writer to believe that Brandon Marshall is staying put.

For now.

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