Bears looking to deal Brandon Marshall?

According to the Chicago Tribune, Brandon Marshall’s days as a Bear are numbered.

The paper reports that several NFL sources have confirmed that the Bears are taking trade inquiries about the wide receiver, who they’d like to get off their books by the time his contract becomes guaranteed on March 12.

The Bears have an entirely new front-office regime led by GM Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox. Offensive coordinator Adam Gase was Marshall’s wide receivers coach with the Broncos, which was the first team from which he’d end up making a volatile exit.

It’s been quite a fall from grace for Marshall, who in 2012 became Chicago’s first Pro Bowl wideout since Marty Booker in 2002 and it’s first All-Pro receiver since Dick Gordon in 1970. But that’s been par for the course for Marshall, who left Denver and Miami on less-than-ideal terms.

Despite his talent, Marshall’s personality makes it hard to believe the Bears will be able to finagle more than a mid-round draft choice in a trade.

Patriots letting Vince Wilfork walk

The NFL is a dog-eat-dog world, and the New England Patriots remain the most voracious dogs on the block.

On Thursday, Wilfork Tweeted that New England will decline its option on the 33-year-old nose tackle, who would have eaten up $8.09 million of salary cap had he remained on the roster March 10. Wilfork has been a mainstay of the Patriots defense since being drafted by the team in 2004.

Wilfork is taking the Abraham Lincoln route – malice towards none.

“I have a great relationship with the Patriots organization. Please know how blessed my family and I have been to be able to play 11 years in New England for an amazing organization… New England has been and always will be my home.”

Well, perhaps not “always” home. Wilfork also made it clear that he has not interest in hanging up his sizeable jersey just yet.

“Can I still play football? Hell yea! Do I still love football? Hell yea!” he noted.

There are a number of intriguing landing spots for Wilfork. A 3-4 defense can basically run itself around his contributions in the middle, making Green Bay or Arizona interesting possibilities. If Indianapolis comes up short in the Ndamukong Suh sweepstakes, Wilfork might be a nice consolation prize. Likewise, even though Detroit runs a 4-3, it’s possible signing Wilfork could soften the blow of losing Suh.

Maurice Jones-Drew calls it quits

There aren’t many candidates for the title “Mr. Jaguar.” Tony Boselli comes to mind first, followed by Mark Brunell or Fred Taylor. But outside of the team’s original expansion cast, no one embodied the Jacksonville franchise more than Maurice Jones-Drew.

Jones-Drew announced his retirement Thursday, bringing an end to a nine-year career, the first eight seasons of which were spent in Jacksonville. Only standing 5-foot-7, Jones-Drew rushed for 8,167 yards in his career, which is the sixth-highest total in that time span.

For many, he is best known as a fantasy football wunderkind thanks to his nose for the goal line. MJD rushed for 68 touchdowns and caught 11 more over the course of his career.

Jones-Drew returned to his Bay Area home for the final season of his career with the Raiders, which did not turn out as planned. He broke his hand in Week 1, finishing with just 96 yards all season.

When it was clear his hometown team wouldn’t be bringing him back for next season, Jones-Drew elected to call it quits.

“All good things come to an end!!!” he announced via Twitter.