When the Chicago Bears brought in a new regime by hiring general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox, the writing was on the wall for Brandon Marshall.
If Jay Cutler didn’t make so much money, he probably would have been traded as well. Instead, it was Marshall, the mercurial star wide receiver who given some say in his next destination.
According to NFL.com, Marshall chose to accept a trade to the Jets, primarily because of the presence of quarterback, Geno Smith.
Shocking right?
Despite Smith throwing 34 interceptions in 30 career games, Marshall fell in love with his intelligence and football IQ.
“I was really shocked at the intelligence, how smart he was,” Marshall said. “I had known him as a player from afar. I didn’t know his football IQ was so high. He had crazy passion. When I talked to him, I fell in love with the conversation. I said, this is a real opportunity, we have a great defense, great pieces on offense. If we can come together and gel, we may not be the best in Year 1, but if we can be effective and not turn over the ball, we can be in every game.”
Marshall wanted to bond with Smith so much — he moved in with him.
We’re growing every single day,” Marshall said. “I look at it like a little brother. Rooming with him has really speeded up that process. We look at each other a different way. It just makes you want to fight that much harder. We have our ups and downs as far as trying to learn the offense — he wants me to look for a back-shoulder and I’m running down the field — but I’ve got to say, in the last two weeks, we’ve made a pretty significant jump. We’re starting to see the game the same way. It comes from hours and hours of communication, or walking through it at the house.”
If Brandon Marshall can get Geno Smith to cut down on the interceptions, and play with efficiency, he’ll be the real MVP.