What Brandon Marshall’s contract extension means for the NFC North

Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall has made it clear that he wants to retire as a member of the Bears organization. He’s going to get his wish.

Marshall signed a three year contract extension today.

It was bizarre how quickly things changed during the 2013 season. You have an offense who made a little bit of noise during the 2012 campaign looking to stay stride for stride with a defense that has dominated opposing teams over the last decade. Well I wouldn’t necessarily use dominate, but they’ve caused offensive coordinators and head coaches to either pull out their hair or throw their headsets to the ground.

If you would have told me that Chicago’s offense was going to be a lot better than their defense, I would have laughed in your face. Bears fans knew how good this offense could be, but nobody ever expected them to have that great of a year. To have two quarterbacks on the same roster who could combine for 4,450 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions is pretty unheard of if you’re a fan of this team.

Having two primary receivers on this offense not only gives this organization the chance to compete, but a reason for it’s fan base to be excited about the future. Yes Jay Cutler has made a ton of dumb plays over the last few seasons and has been hurt, but he still has one of the strongest arms in the game. It’s either do or die for that guy.

Brandon Marshall being able to get himself together in Chicago and joining his former Denver Broncos teammate once again has worked out perfectly for himself. He’s admitted that Cutler has always been a guy who has been able to keep him calm and focused on the task at hand. These two guys are pretty much like brothers and will always have each other’s backs.

So with both Marshall and Cutler receiver contract extensions during the off-season, what does that mean for the rest of the NFC North? You better find a game plan that not only causes Cutler to force throws, but find guys who can shut down Marshall for the entire game .  Most of his passes go Marshall’s way considering how well these two know each other.

But you still have Matt Forte, Martellus Bennett and Alshon Jeffery to worry about.

Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery is showing those who bleed Bears football that he’s serious about putting together a winning team. The defense has new additions such as Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston, Israel Idonije, Charles Tillman and a handful of rookies who can make a quick impact on that side of the ball.

Now that Marshall is with Jay Cutler and this Chicago Bears offense for the next four years, these guys will become serious contenders even though the defense needs to get itself together.

Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and whoever is under center in Minnesota need to watch out -because the Monsters of the Midway plan on doing some serious damage from here on out.

That’s if Jay Cutler can manage to stay healthy.