For the second time in two seasons, Cleveland Browns star pass-rusher Myles Garrett is the subject of interesting rumors regarding his future ahead of the trade deadline.
The biggest difference between the two situations is that Garrett signed a four-year, $160M contract extension that included $123.5M guaranteed to stay with the Browns this past offseason. Thus, some reporters have mentioned that Cleveland trading Garrett for any price this fall is “nearly impossible to pull off” for reasons related to the salary cap.
On Tuesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested the Browns could and should look to sell Garrett to the highest bidder ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline, even though doing so would essentially guarantee Cleveland won’t be competitive until 2027 at the earliest.
Is now the time for Browns to trade Myles Garrett?
“Garrett’s still at the top of his game,” Breer wrote. “There’d be a big market for him, with a contract that’s relatively manageable with his bonus money paid out (his base salary for the rest of the year is at the veteran minimum, and he’s due $73.2M over the next two years). Yes, there’d be a cap acceleration that’d be tough to swallow (around $45M) for Cleveland, but if there’s a time to take that sort of medicine, I’d argue that it’s probably now.”
History has shown that just about any player can be traded at any time in “the salary cap isn’t real” world of the NFL. For what it’s worth, the Browns have routinely “kicked the can” down the road as it pertains to cap hits associated with the fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract they handed quarterback Deshaun Watson in March 2022.
As for Garrett’s mindset, one doesn’t need to be in the Browns locker room every week to know the 29-year-old is frustrated with the state of the team that fell to 2-6 on the season via a 32-13 blowout loss at the New England Patriots this past Sunday. Meanwhile, the Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers are reportedly among teams that could be interested in acquiring arguably the best pass-rusher in the league before the trade deadline arrives at 4 p.m. ET next Tuesday.
What could Browns get for Myles Garrett?
Breer speculated “for argument’s sake” that the Browns “could get two first-round picks, a 2026 second-round pick and a ’27 third-round pick for Garrett” ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Such a transaction could help accelerate Cleveland’s latest roster rebuild and allow Garrett to pursue the Super Bowl ring that has eluded him throughout his Hall of Fame career. It remains to be seen if a would-be buyer will submit a “‘Godfather’ offer” to the Browns for Garrett’s services over the next handful of days.
