Former Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall at Russell Wilson workouts
Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall is apparently taking part in the on-field workouts. What could this mean?
As promised, Russell Wilson and many of his Denver Broncos teammates are out at Wilson’s San Diego compound getting some work in before training camp kicks off one week from Wednesday.
There weren’t nearly as many Broncos players at the last San Diego workout session as there are this time, as evidenced by this great group photo.
#Broncos @DangeRussWilson and the San Diego crew, including Sutton, Hamler, Jeudy, Albert 0, Cushenberry, et al. Pic from Wilson’s IG #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/k4W3agMkUz
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) July 20, 2022
There’s a lot to analyze about this photo, but first things first — let’s take attendance here.
From right to left:
- QB Josh Johnson
- TE Eric Saubert
- QB Brett Rypien
- (Hall of Fame) WR Kendall Hinton
- TE Albert Okwuegbunam
- WR KJ Hamler
- WR Courtland Sutton
- QB Russell Wilson
- WR Travis Fulgham (behind Wilson)
- WR Montrell Washington (front, white long sleeve shirt)
- WR Jerry Jeudy (red shorts)
- C Lloyd Cushenberry
- WR Tim Patrick
- WR Brandon Johnson
- Former Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall
- WR Tyrie Cleveland
This is quite the crew.
You’ll notice right there, second from the left in this particular photo, is a hulking presence who looks like he could be the team’s starting tight end.
That’s Brandon Marshall, the former Denver Broncos Pro Bowl receiver who had one of the most underrated careers of any receiver in modern football.
He last played in the NFL in 2018 with the Seattle Seahawks where he caught a touchdown pass from Russell Wilson against the Denver Broncos in the season opener.
In case you needed further confirmation that this is, in fact, the Brandon Marshall, here it is.
Now, this may be absolutely nothing to read into. Former NFL players work out with current NFL players all the time.
Even if there’s nothing to read into, let’s just entertain the possibility — for the moment — that it is something to read into.
Brandon Marshall is 6-foot-4 and looks like he’s at least 230-235 pounds. He looks absolutely rocked up and like he could play if he wanted to.
At the age of 38, it’s not like he’s past the point of no return when it comes to an NFL comeback.
There seem to be a ton of players in the last couple of years getting shots to either come back or get a second chance by playing the tight end position, so why not Marshall?
He obviously knows Russell Wilson well, and the Denver Broncos could keep him on the practice squad and call him up for games if they wanted to do that.
It would be worth a 90-man roster spot and preseason experiment, there’s no question.
Considering these workouts with Wilson are invitation only, why is Marshall there? Is he there because Wilson just likes him? Is he just there to get a good workout?
Is he there to do some mentoring to the younger receivers?
Or is he there because Russell Wilson is cooking something up with the front office, getting them some film and campaigning to add Marshall to the fray as another offensive weapon?
Given the shape Marshall is in and given the Broncos’ relatively open group at the tight end position, it might not be the worst idea.
We’ve all seen worse ones over the last 12 months or so.