Alittle more than a year ago, Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett took a rather aggressive posture with his team, demanding a trade away from the team that drafted him so that he could join a bunch better positioned to win a Super Bowl–or at least compete for one. At the time, the Browns were coming off a three-win season and had no credible quarterback on hand.
So the team did what it could to change Garrett’s mind about a trade: It offered him a record-breaking contract, worth $160 million over four years.
A year later, though, the Browns are no closer to a Super Bowl, coming off a five-win season and with a quarterback situation that remains sketchy. Moreover, the Browns made a contract adjustment to Garrett’s deal, pushing back some of his bonus money each year, a move widely believed to make him easier to trade.
Now that it looks as though the Browns are in a better position to make a blockbuster deal to send out Garrett, the question is: Will they?
Browns Could Pay Myles Garrett More
According to ESPN insider Dan Graziano, the expectation around the NFL is that no, the Browns will not be moving Garrett. That does not explain why the team and Garrett made the adjustment to his contract, nor does it explain why that adjustment got leaked to the media–the only purpose for such a leak would seem to be that either the Browns or the folks in Garrett’s camp do, in fact, want a trade.
But Graziano said that not only does he not expect the Browns to keep Garrett, they could soon bump up his paycheck again, probably a fair result after Garrett set the NFL record for sacks in a season in 2025, with 23.0. Still, that would be a surprise on both the team’s part, as well as Garrett’s part.
‘They Have No Interest in Trading Myles Garrett’
Here’s how Graziano explained the Browns-Garrett situation on the ESPN program “Get Up” on Monday morning, when asked whether there is a chance that the Browns would trade their prized pass-rusher:
“There is not. I think there are a lot of people out there that wonder why not considering what you could probably get for him? But the Browns have been steadfast and adamant that they have no interest in trading Myles Garrett, even last year when he was publicly asking for a trade, they said that, gave him a new contract. I think it is more likely that Myles Garrett gets another contract bump from the Browns this offseason than gets traded.”
Browns GM Called Trade Talk a ‘Waste’ of Breath
Again, that has been the Browns’ public position on Garrett throughout the offseason. During the NFL owners meetings last month, Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters that he would not comment on how the team manages contract, meaning there was no solid explanation for why the adjustment on Garrett was made. But Berry says the team wants Garrett in Cleveland.
“Myles is a career Brown,” Berry said. “He is one of the faces of our organization. I think we’ve been very clear both past and present in terms of our feelings. I understand all the questions. I’ll be honest, I don’t really want to waste a ton more breath on the topic.”
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