The Cleveland Browns allegedly don’t plan to trade All-Pro pass-rusher Myles Garrett anytime soon, even though he’s made it known he wants to join an advertised Super Bowl contender such as the Detroit Lions.
For a piece published Friday, ESPN NFL analyst Aaron Schatz explained why the Browns should continue playing hardball regarding Garrett’s status until further notice.
“He has had at least 14 sacks in four straight seasons,” Schatz said about Garrett. “He ranked sixth in pass rush win rate (21.5%) in 2024 despite sucking up a lot of double-teams and he won’t turn 30 until late in the 2025 season. Trading Garrett would also be terrible for Cleveland’s salary cap situation, which is already in bad shape because of quarterback Deshaun Watson. Roster Management System estimates the Browns to be $30M over the salary cap. Trading Garrett would leave the Browns with at least $36M in dead money and a loss of $16.5M in cap space.”
ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Dianna Russini of The Athletic are among those who previously noted that the Browns likely won’t trade Garrett before June 1 due to the salary cap. Schatz pointed out that Cleveland would have already paid Garrett a $5M roster bonus by then, and history shows that NFL owners like to avoid essentially burning through money for no good reason.
Garrett has said he’s “willing to do whatever it takes” to receive his desired trade. Still, his contract through the 2026 season doesn’t leave him with many options, even if he’s willing to forfeit money by sitting out some regular-season games.
“He’s not going to miss the entire season because he wants his contract to roll a year,” Schatz added about how many games Garrett could give Cleveland later this year. “The Browns maybe could make nice and convince him they’re trying to win and he shouldn’t hold out. Or, they could just deal with only having him for half the year.”
Per multiple reports, Cleveland is willing to make Garrett the league’s highest-paid defensive player via a new deal. Schatz seems to be among those who think the 29-year-old should accept the pay raise and reevaluate his future roughly 12 months from now.
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