It's been a little over two hours since it was first reported that the Chicago Bears had traded a pair of third round draft picks to the Miami Dolphins for wide receiver Brandon Marshall, but the new car smell hasn't even started to disappear yet.
It's a huge day for the Bears, quarterback Jay Cutler, and their fans, and it'll be enough to keep the football-crazed denizens of Chicago floating on Cloud 9 for the rest of the offseason, even if a few of the other moves the Bears apparently have in the works fall through. It's a big-time trade that instantly pumps life into the franchise after a disappointing end to last season.
A few of the Bears took to Twitter to welcome their newest teammate. Here's what star linebacker Lance Briggs had to say:
today is a great day..@HennOrJenn26 gets resigned and bears make trade for brandon marshall..great for us!!
— lance briggs (@55Berger) March 13, 2012
Running back Matt Forte also welcomed Marshall.
@BMarshall19 bout time bro...welcome home lol
— Matt Forte (@MattForte22) March 13, 2012
Cutler, who is fairly active on Twitter, hasn't weighted in yet, but his evil counterpart has in classic NSFW fashion.
Here's a few more relevant tweets that should excite Bears fans. From reporter Zach Zaidman:
With Cutler as his QB, Marshall caught 102 passes for 1325 yards and 7 TDs in 2007 and had 104 catches for 1265 yards and 6 TDs in 2008.
— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) March 13, 2012
More stats:
Elias: Bears' 9 straight seasons w/o 1,000-yd receiver is longest active streak in the NFL. Marshall 1 of 3 WR to have 1000 last 5 seasons
— Dickerson and Wright (@ESPNChiBears) March 13, 2012
Bask in it, Chicago. This is probably the best receiver in franchise history.
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