Brandon Marshall has always been outspoken through his NFL career and after reports came out that Colin Kaepernick is hoping to join the New York Jets, the wide receiver made sure his opinion on the matter was known.
Over the past week reports came out that Kaepernick may want out of San Francisco and that he would like to land with the New York Jets. The New York Daily News reports that Kaepernick has the Jets as his "preferred destination" if he is cut or traded from the 49ers. Manish Mehta reports that the Jets "are aware and intrigued by Kaepernick's desire to play for them," but have not made any major decisions yet about what the team will do for next season, as sources report they are "still in the early stages of their offseason planning and evaluation."
NJ.com pushed back on the report from the Daily News, writing that "a person familiar with the situation" said that the report is not true. Dom Cosentino writes that the source said "no," when asked about Kaepernick's wanting to leave the 49ers and that he had "no idea where it came from. Random, strange article."
Whether the reports are true or not, Brandon Marshall caught wind of them and he made his opinion known about the situation while appearing on ESPN's "First Take" on Wednesday. Marshall said "I don't want Kaepernick" and that "I think he's good. My guy's Fitz. It's nothing against Kaepernick, but what I'm saying is that I have my quarterbacks and I'm good." Marshall put up some of the best numbers of his career last season while playing with Fitzpatrick, who almost led the Jets to a playoff appearance in the AFC.
Fitzpatrick is hitting free agent this offseason and the team has said publically that they want the quarterback to return for next season. According to NFL.com, Todd Bowles said soon after the season ended that the team has Fitzpatrick coming back as "a pretty high priority" and that "he's the quarterback. He had a great year for us. We want him back."
Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but Marshall has already made his feelings well known about the situation. Fitzpatrick put up strong numbers with a team record 31 touchdown passes last season and he also helped the Jets rank in the top 10 on offense in the league. The 31 TD passes were a career high for Fitzpatrick and he also set a high with 3905 passing yards. Marshall finished the season with 109 receptions for 1502 yards and a career best 14 touchdown catches while playing with Fitzpatrick.
"The second half of Ryan Fitzpatrick's career is going to be amazing," Marshall said on the show, "because he's with his guy Chan Gailey and he really owns this offense. And that's what you want out of the quarterback position."