Brandon Marshall

Well, well, well. The Dolphins' front office manages to shock everybody by and quietly executing a blockbuster trade for the man who, as soon as he steps on the field in a Dolphins' uniform, will be the very best receiver this team has fielded since the departure of the Marks Brothers almost 20(!) years ago. Brandon Marshall. Wow. Miami's woes in the receiving corps need no further explanation on this blog. While there was somce speculation the team would use their first-round pick on Dez Bryant, I assumed they'd address their defensive holes in the draft and stand pat at receiver. And I'd been trying to talk myself into thinking this was in fact the smart move. Looking at it like an optimistic homer we could say that in 2009 Bess assumed a bigger role on the offense, Camarillo was as dependable an option as one could be, and the rookie Hartline looked great while averaged 16 yards a catch. (Ginn, well, even aqua-and-orange colored glasses aren't gonna make that guy look good.) Now with another year of experience for that trio and their QB, maybe the existing talent could take another step forward so that Phins'd be alright enough at the position to address other needs.

But no. Parcells and company crossed us up and made the bold move, swapping two second-rounders for a, shall we say, somewhat controversial player. And I love it. If you had your pick of any receiver in the NFL right now to upgrade your WR corps, who would you take over Marshall? Larry Fitzgerald. Andre Johnson. Calvin Johnson. And who else? Nobody better than Brandon Marshall. Dude's exactly what the team needs. A perfect fit really. A huge target for Henne. Tough to bring down. An amazing physical specimen who can take over games. And he's only 26, still in his prime. Sure there's some "character" issues to worry about but the trade's taken care of some of those issues (wanted more $, wanted to play in Fla.) overnight. This is great for the offense and great for Henne's development. Marshall's police record makes him a bit of a risk but using their number one pick on Dez Bryant would have brought a whole bunch of other risks. At least Marshall's a proven stud.

Let's face it, the cliche that the NFL's a passing league is true. The Dolphins just went from having the worst receiving corps in the AFC East to having one as good as anybody else. It had to be done. I'm just glad I no longer have to talk myself into believing the opposite.

Just a few days before we saw the Jets get Santonio Holmes for nothing more than a 5th round pick. And by all accounts nobody, nobody made the Jets a better offer. Sure the guy's a jackass who's been suspended for a quarter of the season but he's better than any Dolphin who caught a pass in 2009. Yet despite how cheaply Holmes could be obtained Parcells wasn't at all interested in him. Now we know why. Let the Jets have the guy. Miami just got somebody a lot better. (And the Jets know it. They tried for trade for him back in March. Haha).