No Denver Broncos player should ever wear #88 again ... so says Brandon Marshall, who tells TMZ Sports the team needs to retire the digits to honor Demaryius Thomas.
"It's just fitting, it just makes sense," said the former Broncos linebacker, who played with Thomas in Denver for years. "[He's] one of the greatest Broncos ever."
Marshall is making the push for his former team to go ahead with the tribute following Thomas' death this week ... telling us Demaryius is more than deserving of the honor.