The Chicago Bears made an extremely strong hire when they tabbed John Fox to take over as head coach after making the in-no-way-unexpected decision to fire Marc Trestman after this past season.
Changes have yet to take place and Fox has yet to make his mark on his new NFL home, but with free agency and the 2015 NFL Draft just around the corner, it won't be long before we get a view into what Fox thinks need to happen for the Bears to return to their position as one of the NFC's powerhouse teams.
A player still under contract who has proven extremely productive in his first two seasons in Chicago - back-to-back 100-catch, 1,000-yard campaigns, no small feat - but who could soon be shown the exit, is receiver Brandon Marshall.
"It appears to be at that point in the proceedings where Marshall has worn out his welcome in Chicago, much as he did in Denver and Miami before arriving in Chicago in 2012," writes Don Banks of Sports Illustrated. "While it's not known yet whether the Bears will follow suit and decide less is more when it comes to Marshall and his spotlight-seeking ways, there are rumblings that the new management tandem of head coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace may see the gifted receiver as more a part of the problem in Chicago than the solution."
Marshall had a down year last year - along with the entire organization - finishing the season with 61 grabs for only 721 yards and eight touchdowns. He appeared in just 13 games due to injury and his limited production, coupled with his advancing age and pending cap hit ($7.5 million base salary), could lead Fox and Pace to decide he's no longer worth the trouble.
But if the Bears do cut ties with the once troubled receiver, it won't be solely because of his on-field performance.
"Last season, Marshall angered some in the organization with his post-game outbursts against teammates, his weekly trip to New York for the taping of Showtime's 'Inside the NFL,' his occasional dust-ups on Twitter, and his propensity to display a me-first attitude. In other words, he was a lot closer to the diva receiver stereotype than he had been in his first two seasons as a Bear," writes Banks.
With a tailor-made replacement in receiver Alshon Jeffery already in-house, the Bears brass may view Marshall as a luxury item and less as an integral offensive piece.
If the team cuts him before March 13, they'll incur a $5.6 million cap hit, but for a Bears franchise looking to right the ship and change the crumbling culture that permeated the organization last season, if Marshall is viewed as an expensive, non-essential asset or worse, as part of the locker room problem, it may be better for Fox and Pace to pull the plug now.
