Brandon Marshall is perfectly fine playing second-fiddle to Odell Beckham Jr. in New York.
Speaking on NFL Network's Good Morning Football on Thursday, the new Giants receiver said while he still believes he's "elite," he has always liked having another receiver share attention.
"Also at this point in my career, I still believe I'm a No. 1 receiver and you can't tell me different ... but I think one thing these teams I've been on have always had is a mix of spreading the ball around," Marshall said. "(I) had Alshon Jeffery on the other side of myself. Had Eddie Royal going back to my days in Denver -- he had 91 catches, I had 100 catches. Eric Decker. We had a monster year our first year with the New York Jets. So it was extremely important for me to go to a place where, I didn't want to be the No. 1. I wanted a dominant No. 1. And Odell is the biggest superstar in our business and obviously, we have a great defense so it will be awesome to see all those guys grow in Year 2 all together."
Last season, the Giants' passing offense was woefully inefficient outside of passes to Beckham. Marshall scoffed at the notion that there might not be enough balls to go around and that it could end up creating a rift between the two receivers.
"He's going to get the ball," Marshall said of Beckham. "I'm the No. 2. It's not like (host) Nate (Burleson) said 1B. Nate knows football, but Nate, I'm No. 2. It's a 1 and two No. 2s, myself and Sterling Shepard, we can't forget about our young cat, who has a high ceiling..."
Bringing in Marshall to the locker room provides veteran leadership for an otherwise young receiving corps. Not only should the 6-foot-4 Marshall take pressure off Beckham on the field, but he should also shoulder some of the media attention off it.
When asked if the infamous boating trip that took place before last season's playoff game in Green Bay would have happened under his watch, Marshall cited his lack of postseason experience as why for he would have been against the trip.
"You know it doesn't happen, you know I can't say that. Everyone is different." he said, quickly correcting himself. "But I would have been against that, in part because of my pains. I've been in the league so long, I've never made the playoffs. So for me, I'm a guy, I'm in Year 11, and I'm all in because I know this opportunity doesn't come around often ... I would have been against it, but I don't think it had anything to do with their performance on the Sunday."
Marshall said his two-year, $12 million contract was about winning, not dollars.
"It's not about the money ... For me it was about championships," he said. "... New York presented the No. 1 opportunity for me and when it happened I had to run with it. We could have went through the process where you go visit this team, visit that team. I had other options, I had more money on the table and I didn't want to play that game."
"These are not all teams I talked to, but New York was one and I sat down in the beginning of January and said where would I land and where is a great fit and New York was No. 1. The Steelers were right there. Obviously the Patriots and Seattle. Those were the places I thought had great chemistry in the locker room and were ready to win now."
