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As ESPN insider Adam Schefter first reported early Wednesday, the Denver Broncos are trading wide receiver Brandon Marshall to the Miami Dolphins for a second-round pick in next week's NFL draft and what league sources tell Schefter is an additional second-round pick in 2011.

Schefter added that the trade is contingent upon the league processing the paperwork and Marshall passing his physical, neither of which is expected to be an issue on Wednesday.

Marshall is scheduled to fly to Miami to take his physical and, if he passes, sign what will be one of the most lucrative wide receiver deals in NFL history, according to league sources.

Once Marshall signed his $2.5 million tender with the Broncos on Tuesday, it freed Denver to begin shopping him. Miami was hot after Marshall, as was Seattle. According to Schefter, Tampa Bay showed some interest and even the Jets considered making a play for Marshall before their deal for Santonio this past Sunday.

Schefter further notes that Marshall also expected to sign "one of the most lucrative wide receiver deals" in league history.

As Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio reminded readers this morning, the top of the market has been $10 million for more than two years, when Larry Fitzgerald parlayed the eight-figure back end of his rookie deal into a new contract. Others, like Randy Moss and Roy Williams, earn $9 million annually.

Marshall is one of the game's best young wide receivers, a mercurial talent at the position Miami needed help at most. He is in the prime of his career. But like Holmes, he also brings a reputation of being difficult to handle and a legal record that has him one strike from a year-long suspension.

Indeed, Florio suggested that despite the Dolphins obvious need for a high-end threat capable of drawing double-coverage on a regular basis, Marshall's history of arrests and behavior could make one question what it takes to be regarded by Bill Parcells as a "thug" or a "hoodlum" -- something the Dolphins' president has claimed he's not willing to deal with.

Marshall's arrival comes just a day after reports began circulating that Miami was shopping Ted Ginn.

Ginn, the Dolphins' 2007 first-round pick, has played in all 48 games (starting 35 of them) since the Dolphins drafted him but he hasn't contributed nearly as much as the Dolphins hoped he would on offense.

In 2009 he caught just 38 passes for 454 yards and one touchdown.

While Ginn has made significant contributions as a return man, nobody will confuse him for the kind of offensive weapon Marshall, who has pulled in over 100 passes in each of the last two seasons, is.

As for the compensation, PFT also nailed that in suggesting the Broncos did well in dealing Marshall.

In fact, considering the market for other wide receivers this spring, the Denver Post suggests the Broncos are "thrilled" to receive two second-round picks in exchange for Marshall.

Last month, the Baltimore Ravens gave the Arizona Cardinals a third- and fourth-round picks for Anquan Boldin, and last weekend, the Jets gave up only a fifth-round pick for Holmes, a former Super Bowl MVP. Marshall is considered a better player now than both Boldin and Holmes.

Marshall, though, has more off-field baggage than Boldin but less than Holmes, who is facing a four-game suspension in 2010 for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

Also factoring into the equation: The Broncos head into next Thursday's draft armed with three picks in the first two rounds -- and with a huge hole to fill at wide receiver. Marshall caught 101 passes for 1,120 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He has 327 career receptions for 4,019 yards and 25 touchdowns in four seasons, all in Denver.

I will, of course, continue to follow Marshall's progress in Miami once he begins working with the team in earnest next month. But it's safe to assume that strong-armed QB Chad Henne will benefit greatly from the presence of a true lead receiver -- something the Dolphins haven't had in recent memory.

Stay tuned. I'll have more on the impact on both sides of this trade in coming weeks.