Welp, it happened. After days of rumors circulating about Brandon Marshall's trade away from the Bears, new GM Ryan Pace today swapped the No. 1 receiver for the Jets' fifth-round draft pick, per Adam Scheffer and Ian Rapoport. The trade won't be official until Tuesday at 3 p.m., and relies on Marshall passing a physical, but it's happening. The deal will save the Bears nearly $4 million under the salary cap and $7.7 million in cash, plus about a hundred headaches related to Marshall's off-field shenanigans.
Still, this sucks. B-Marsh can be a brat, but he's a brat that put up 2,803 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns in his first two seasons with the Bears. He spent 2014 marred by injuries and Hurricane Jay, but proved that he's still a monster against, say, the 49ers, whom he plopped three touchdowns on last September. In his three years with the Bears, he secured a spot among the franchise's best receivers, and he'll now work that magic in New York.
So: On this sorrowful day, we remember B-Marsh as a Bear. Behold, in no particular order, his finest plays and boldest stunts in Chicago.
B-Marsh scrubs Richard Sherman
In which our hero kindly reminds the league's best corner to get down, little boy, and catches a 56-yard Cutlerbomb to send the game into overtime.
B-Marsh foregoes his left hand…
…to make a game-winning TDer catch against the 49ers last September. This was his third touchdown of the night, by the way, and his second in the fourth quarter, erasing the Bears' late 13-point deficit for a win.
B-Marsh foregoes his right hand!
Because a receiver of B-Marsh-status doesn't discriminate paws-wise, Marshall reeled in a slant, left-handed!, in the Bears' 2014 preseason victory over the Eagles. (Watch it on tape here, via NFL.)
B-Marsh bobbles to victory…
…or at least to a first down, with what might be his most circusesque catch of 2014. The Bears ended up losing this Thursday night game to the Cowboys, but B-Marsh won the evening.
In case you want to watch that over and over again:
B-Marsh goes offensive guard
Observe: All 76 inches and 230 pounds of B-Marsh pulverizes not one but two Carolina defenders as Matt Forte rushes for a first down.
B-Marsh kills it in green cleats
Not only did Marshall illicitly sport green cleats against the Giants during Mental Health Awareness week in 2013; he caught 9 passes for 87 yards, two touchdowns, and a win, then matched the NFL's $10,500 fine in donations to mental health and cancer charities.
We'll miss you, B-Marsh, and so will Jay.