When the regular season ended, Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall spoke to reporters in the locker room and seemed to suggest that he’d be open to taking a pay cut for the 2017 season.
Marshall said that it’s “not about the money anymore” and that he’d “play for free” because his bills are paid. In an appearance on “Boomer & Carton” on WFAN, however, Marshall revisited the issue and sent a very different message. Marshall said that “any team should be happy to have me” for the $7.5 million salary he’s set to make next season.
“What I said was, to clarify my statement, I said I love the game so much that if my bills were paid, which they are, I’ll play for free. But teams also know my value,” Marshall said, via NJ.com. “I’ve probably been underpaid the last six years, if we’re really about comparing production to receivers across the league and what I’ve been doing ... Now, when you only catch 50-something balls for over 700 yards and you’re 30-something years, that’s when teams come to you like, ‘We don’t think you’re good anymore.’”
Moving on from Marshall would result in saving his entire $7.5 million salary under the cap, something that the team might prefer to an aging receiver in what’s expected to be an extensive overhaul of the roster this offseason. They might also like to keep Marshall while saving some money, but Marshall’s latest comments make that seem unlikely.
