Why the Brandon Marshall Trade Hurts Jerry Jones

I woke up this morning and did my normal routine. Hit snooze about three times, made coffee, and then checked Sportscenter. And that’s when I saw the news…

Brandon Marshall has been traded to the Miami Dolphins for two second-round draft picks.

Damn, I guess the Lions really did win afterall.

You’re probably asking, “Rob, what do the Detroit Lions have to do with that trade?” I’m glad you asked.

It stands as only MORE evidence that the Dallas Cowboys 100% screwed up when they traded for Roy Williams last season. That is one mistake that Jerry Jones will never admit to committing.

Credit goes to Denver though, for somehow managing two second-round draft picks. And if you use the draft pick trade value chart (the chart that gives a score to how valuable each pick is), Denver basically got a 28^th overall pick for Marshall. Very good considering Super Bowl MVP, Santonio Holmes was just traded to New York for a fifth rounder.

Despite the rumors that Dallas was interested in trading for Brandon Marshall, I never saw that happening. That would mean Jerry Jones would have to give up draft picks for another big name receiver, something that he’s done twice now, and never saw the results he wanted.

In 1999, Jerry Jones traded away two FIRST-round picks to the Seattle Seahawks for wideout, Joey Galloway. A player, who at the time was a huge name, but never shined brightly in Dallas. In Galloway’s four-year tenure as a Cowboy, he never had more than six touchdowns in a year, nor anymore than 65 catches.

By the way, Seattle used one of those picks to draft Shaun Alexander…you might’ve heard of him…

Then, right before the trade deadline in 2008, Jerry Jones did it again. This time, trading away a first, third, sixth, and seventh round pick to the Detroit Lions for Roy Williams….damn that hurt.

But to be fair, at the time, Roy was a stellar wideout, but so is Brandon Marshall today. So why did the Lions get so much, and the Broncos get so little for their respective wide receivers? I have no clue.

Roy had played in 60 games as a Lion before the trade to Dallas. Coincidentally, Marshall played 61. Marshall had 327 receptions to Williams’ 262. That’s roughly one additional catch per game.

Just looking at the facts, although Denver is happy getting two second-round picks for Marshall, the Lions are the obvious victors here. I don't think it was any secret before Wednesday, but now it's clearer than ever: Lions general manager Martin Mayhew absolutely fleeced the Cowboys on this deal.