Ex-Saints wide receiver Brandon Marshall: ‘Their window is closed’

Pro Bowl WR Brandon Marshall only spent a month with the New Orleans back in 2018, and lit up his old team on ESPN’s First Take morning show

Brandon Marshall’s month-long stint with the New Orleans Saints a couple of years ago must have left a sour impression. Unable to outwork the likes of Keith Kirkwood and Tommylee Lewis in practice, he spent most of November 2018 wearing sweatpants on game days before the team cut him early in December. He never played another down in the NFL.

So now Marshall is trying to reinvent himself as a commentator, going on ESPN’s “First Take” to rain fire and brimstone down on the last team that gave him a shot.

“New Orleans, Sean Payton? Sean Payton continues to hurt his team,” Marshall said in a segment discussing Tom Brady’s chances of leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a division title.

He continued, “How do you have Drew Brees, Mike T, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram a couple years ago, you have a defense that goes from crap the first half of the season to one of the most elite defenses we’ve ever seen, and you lose in the playoffs?

“Two years, back to back? New Orleans is done.”

When the show’s hosts tried to steer Marshall back on track into focusing on regular season results, and the looming race for an NFC South crown between Brady and Brees, Marshall dug his heels in even further.

“Their window is closed, their window is closed,” Marshall insisted. “Their window is closed, I’m sorry. Did you see what happened to their defense last year? Do you see that everyone in the league has the book on New Orleans’ offense now? Did you see that? It’s over, it’s a wrap.”

The Saints offense ranked third-best in the NFL last year, averaging more than 28 points scored per game with Brees missing five weeks. They’ve also added three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in free agency, which Marshall scoffed at.

“Emmanuel Sanders is fifty years old,” Marshall retorted, “Emmanuel Sanders is two months away from standing right next to me.” Sanders, 33, is three years Marshall’s junior.

Maybe Marshall is bored in retirement. He could be trying to kick off a media career based off of hot takes and shallow analysis. Another possibility is that he may have felt that he didn’t get a fair shot to earn playing time back in 2018, which doesn’t pass the smell test considering how short-handed the Saints were at receiver in the wake of Dez Bryant’s career-ending injury.

Whatever the case, nothing Marshall said on ESPN Thursday morning holds up when you look at the numbers. Maybe he should do his research before going on air next time.

[vertical-gallery id=31731]