RENTON, Wash. -- From one veteran wide receiver to another, Brandon Marshall thinks Dez Bryant should have a job.
Marshall made that point in Bryant's defense Thursday when asked for his thoughts on the former Dallas Cowboy remaining unsigned a week into the regular season.
"He should be in the league," Marshall said. "He should be playing right now ... It's something I've been watching and [I'm] a little disappointed in why he's not there, why he's not with a team. Actually today we were watching a clip of Dallas and I was just like, 'Man, why isn't this guy in the league right now? Why isn't he playing? Why isn't he with a team?' So a little disappointed."
The 34-year-old Marshall signed a one-year, $1.105 million deal with Seattle in May and caught a touchdown in the Seahawks' season-opening loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Bryant, meanwhile, has been a free agent since Dallas released him in April after eight seasons with the team. He visited the Baltimore Ravens before the draft and the Cleveland Browns last month.
The 29-year-old Bryant owns the Cowboys franchise record for touchdown receptions with 73 but is coming off three straight seasons with fewer than 850 receiving yards.
"He can play, but obviously sometimes perception becomes reality, guys are scared," Marshall said. "But what people need to understand is guys evolve. You don't look at the guy's history; you look at how they handle things in those moments. Are they able to learn from things? Are they getting better? And Dez is a guy similar to me where every year he gets stronger and stronger, maturer and maturer. I think teams may be a little scared but they shouldn't be scared. The guy understands where he's at. He's not going to go into a situation and be a distraction."
Marshall defended Bryant's sometimes-fiery sideline demeanor.
"One of the things that sometimes that we misinterpret is his emotion, but you want that," he said. "A lot of times we think, oh, he's yelling and screaming for the ball, but that's just his personality, he's a very competitive guy. So I can't wait to see him back on a team. Just a bad situation all around."