Cody Parkes
Sports Columnist

Denver Broncos Pro-Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall is unhappy with his old contract (which conveniently ended this year) not to mention the current state the Denver Broncos find themselves in, and so he should be.
Clearly there are changes that need to be made in the Mile High city in order for the Broncos to be competitive in the AFC west next season; however, replacing Marshall (statistically, one of the top 10 receivers in the league) because he openly complains about his contract and/or the state of the team is certainly not one of them.
This is not T.O. in Dallas. The Denver Broncos can’t add by subtracting Marshall from the line-up.
The Broncos are clearly a better team when Marshall is on the field as he contributes much more than receptions and touchdowns to the team. He forces opposing defenses to game-plan specifically for him which creates openings for other receivers and helps the run game succeed by forcing more nickel and dime packages which use more defensive backs than run-stopping linebackers and lineman.
Marshall is a remarkable talent in the National Football League, and deserves to be treated as such based solely on his stats over the past two seasons. I’m not saying that Marshall’s attitude regarding a new contract and the state of the team has been the correct one, but rather that he has a legitimate reason to be upset and that the Denver Broncos should do whatever is needed contract-wise to retain him.
Last season’s 2-8 finish to a 6-0 start should be enough for anyone within miles of the Bronco nation to go running for the hills of San Diego–at least they’re making the playoffs. Players for the Denver Broncos like Marshall should be no exception.
If the Broncos would like to increase their chances of winning the AFC west next season they need to beef up their defensive line by finding one, or two defensive starters who can play 3-4 defense. Not by trading their top offensive threat. Anyone who disagrees need only to look at the Broncos statistics versus the run in the second half of the season which dropped from being in the top three in the league to the bottom three.
It’s time for Pat Bowlen and the Denver Broncos front office to take control of this situation and make things right between themselves and the team’s best player.
After all, the last thing Bronco fans need is coach McDaniels trading “The Beast” to the Chicago Bears for Devin Hester.
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cparkes@mesastate.edu