Should the Patriots trade for Brandon Marshall?

Yesterday’s post about the NFL Network’s “State of the Franchise” sparked an interesting debate through a comment left by reader Nathan Entzel. Nathan made a case for the Patriots trading their first round pick in the 2011 draft to the Denver Broncos for restricted free agent WR Brandon Marshall. It’s an interesting prospect that I really hadn’t given much thought to, but here is Nathan’s case for Marshall:

“All things that Brandon Marshall is now, Corey Dillon was, and Randy Moss was. I think that most of Brandon’s problems stemmed from an arrogant coach coming in and alienating and getting rid of his best friend (Cutler). If Jay would have stayed, Marshall would have acted differently, i guarantee it.

I do not think, as much as i cannot stand the broncos, that arguably 3 of their best offensive players (Cutler, Marshall, and Schefler) all had issues. I think those three were close to Shannahan and did not like how that was handled, so they rebelled.

I read somewhere in the last week that a source said that Tom and Josh didn’t speak for a large portion of the season cause they didn’t see eye to eye. The reason we didn’t hear about it, is because Josh was the OC not the HC.

I am telling you now, if Brandon comes into New England, he will be a much different character.

I look at it this way. Could we draft any player in round 1 that could have the same impact on the team this year, or in the next two years as big as Marshall? I do not think so. It is important that we think long term, but at the same time, we have the best QB in the league for the next 3-5 years. After that, it is up in the air if he will continue to play at the same level he is now.”

What is unarguable is that Brandon Marshall would produce on the field in the immediate future much better than any player the Pats drafted would. One of my main contentions against this trade is the potential bad apple he would be in the locker room. I don’t think that the current locker room would be able to handle a malcontent like the Patriots’ locker rooms of the past decade would. When Corey Dillon and Randy Moss were acquired, the locker room was full of strong leaders like Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi. We have yet to see what new players will take that mantle, though Tom Brady and Vince Wilfork are candidates for that.

Another reader named Pascal also makes this contention about the malcontents comparison:

“I also believe that a lot of Marshall’s problems were due to circumstance, derront williams murder, all his friends leaving town, but he was still acting immaturely. Corey Dillion and Randy Moss were just upset with their roles on their teams. You never saw them acting up in practice and undermining their coaches and owner. It’s unfair and misguided to put all malcontents in a pool together.”

What do you think? I posted a new poll on the left-hand side of the site where you can vote: Should the Patriots trade for Brandon Marshall? The poll will be open until Saturday evening.