The Jets acquired Brandon Marshall and a seventh-round pick…
The Jets acquired Brandon Marshall and a seventh-round pick from Chicago for a fifth-round selection. Marshall immediately delivered 109 catches, 1,502 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2015, earning Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. Chicago used the fifth-rounder on Adrian Amos, who became a four-year starting safety. Both teams received excellent value from modest assets, with the Bears gaining the longer-lasting return and the Jets getting the higher immediate peak.
New York Jets Received
- pick Brandon Marshall and 2015 7th round pick (224th overall subsequently traded, Bryce Hager)
Chicago Bears Received
- pick 2015 5th round pick (142nd overall, Adrian Amos)
Trade Analysis
New York bought low on an accomplished receiver. The Jets sent a fifth-round pick to Chicago and received Brandon Marshall plus a seventh-round selection. Marshall was 31 and coming off an injury-shortened 2014 season, but the acquisition immediately transformed the Jets' passing game.
His 2015 season was enormous: 109 receptions, 1,502 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns, along with Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. Marshall and Eric Decker gave Ryan Fitzpatrick one of the league's most productive receiving duos, and New York finished 10-6 while narrowly missing the playoffs. Marshall's second Jets season was far less productive, and he was released after 2016, so the value was concentrated heavily in one elite year.
Chicago used the fifth-round pick on Penn State safety Adrian Amos. Amos started as a rookie and became a dependable member of the Bears secondary, starting 56 games over four seasons. He was part of the 2018 defense that won the NFC North before leaving for Green Bay in free agency. For a fifth-round selection, that is excellent developmental value.
The seventh-round pick New York received was later traded, so the core comparison is Marshall's short, high-end peak against Amos' longer run as a starting safety. Both organizations can reasonably be pleased. The Jets paid very little for a season that nearly carried them to the postseason, while the Bears converted an aging veteran into a four-year starter.
Chicago receives an A- because Amos delivered sustained starting value at a low acquisition cost. New York earns a B+ because Marshall's 2015 season was elite, but the benefit lasted only two years and declined sharply in the second. The Bears retain a slight hindsight edge, though this is much closer than a simple winner-loser label suggests.