DECEMBER 28: Garrett confirmed (via Cabot) one member of the Browns’ front office reached out to him to assess his thoughts on any potential trade request. With no rebuild being considered, though, Cabot adds Garrett’s comments have not drawn a significant reaction from the organization. Watson’s latest restructure could provide added financial flexibility to made a QB move this offseason, something which could further dissuade thoughts of being dealt on Garrett’s part.
DECEMBER 20: Drafted first overall after the Browns went 0-16, Myles Garrett has been through a rebuild. Overseen by three GMs, that climb produced a quality roster that has seen quarterback hiccups — one that has the team in an unprecedented bind — otherwise define the period.
In a statement that sounds a bit more like what an NBA superstar would provide, Garrett wants clarity from Browns management about the team’s plans. Making it clear he is not interested in being part of another rebuild, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year did not dismiss a trade request if he does not receive the answers he wants.
“First of all, I want to win. I want the Browns to be able to put me and us in position to win. I’m not trying to rebuild,” Garrett said, via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. “I’m trying to win right now. I want that to be apparent, when the season’s over and we have those discussions, I want them to be able to illuminate that for me, illustrate that for me, so that can be something that I can see in the near future.
“I’m going to stay loyal to a team that showed loyalty to me and faith in me by drafting me. But we have to do, at the end of the day, what’s best for us.”
This strategy has keyed numerous NBA exits, in a league in which the stars hold more power compared to the NFL. The league Garrett plays in features additional mechanisms, most notably the franchise tag, for teams to retain stars. As Deshaun Watson‘s struggles pushed that situation well past a crisis point ahead of the trade deadline, teams asked about Garrett. The Browns shot them down, viewing he and Denzel Ward as building blocks. But Garrett may be ready to force the issue soon.
“Absolutely,” Garrett said when asked (via Cabot) if the Browns need to explain a QB plan. “As uncertain as it is now from the outside looking in, it’s uncertain for us as well. So if [Dorian Thompson-Robinson] is the solution or someone else is, it’s got to be drawn out. There’s got to be a plan of action and just got to know where things are going.
Cleveland has Garrett under contract (at a below-market rate) for one more season. The team did well to sign the 2017 top pick to a five-year, $125MM deal, giving the club seven years of control. Probably the best pass rusher in Browns history, Garrett has outplayed that deal. Nick Bosa now leads the pack with a $34MM-per-year deal, and 2025 will also bring Micah Parsons and T.J. Watt contract years. Although Garrett is also in line to cash in during a Browns contract year, doing so appears contingent on the team convincing its top player it can compete despite the Watson albatross.
Trading Garrett would cost the Browns more than $36MM in dead money. This being the Andrew Berry-era Browns, four void years are on the standout’s contract. That will raise the price of a trade, one that would not bring any cap relief if completed before June 1. While the Browns could take the route of overwhelming Garrett with an extension offer, inking him to a third contract appears contingent on a better quarterback plan.
The Browns have no way out of the Watson mess. No second suspension under the personal conduct policy is coming, keeping the QB’s guarantees intact. It would cost the Browns more than $172MM to release Watson in 2025, making it a non-starter. The team plans to keep the struggling quarterback as a result. Although Browns decision-makers are not saying Watson will be benched in 2025, signs point to a search for competition — at the very least — coming soon. The contract Berry authorized in 2022 will prevent an expensive QB search, but he does plan on going through with a third restructure to reduce Watson’s 2025 cap hit (currently a record-shattering $72.9MM). This will make it harder for the Browns to dump the disappointing trade acquisition in 2026, but that appears the cost of doing business at this point.
A team that traded for Garrett would need to pay up; the Browns would undoubtedly ask for a first-round pick and change. The prospect of an acquiring team needing to then authorize a market-setting extension north of $35MM per year would complicate trade talks, as would Garrett turning 30 in 2025. But the five-time All-Pro would be ready to ask for a deal if he and the Browns are not aligned.
“I mean, it’s a possibility, but I want to be a Cleveland Brown,” Garrett said of a trade request. “I want to play here, play my career here. But if we choose to do a rebuild and it’s two, three, four years out, I want be able to compete and play at a high level, play meaningful games and be playing past January.”
Garrett did not provide any clarity whether he would ask to be moved if Berry and Kevin Stefanski are fired, which they are not expected to be, or if a to-be-determined rookie usurping Watson would change his plans. But the Browns may soon be dealing with an ultimatum, providing a significant complication as they attempt to weather the storm the Watson contract has brought.
LOL
Who didn’t see that coming?
I wrote the other day that they should trade every decent player that they have for decent draft choices / young NLF players, eat the mess with Watson, dump him, and forget about 2025.
Instead they want to limp along in 2025, and also have Watson and his salary on the books in 2026.
Of course Mr. Garrett wants to know what the plan is. The man is supposed to show up for 2 more years of his dwindling prime to play .500 ball at best?
The surprise is if he’s the only player that takes this stand – maybe publicly, maybe privately.
The owner and his GM tanked that franchise. Yet again.
Didn’t Garrett choose to sign his contract with Cleveland? Man up, play out the deal you signed and shut the hell up!!
That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one putting your body on the line every single snap. Dude is an all time great. If he wants to play for a winner good for him! He doesn’t owe the Browns anything. They owed it to him to put a better team around him.
Their long term plan is to NOT be a total joke.
But the punchline is that that has been their plan the whole time and…it’s not going well…at all…and there is no reason to think that that will change. Ever. Let alone anytime soon. So…
Your move, I guess.
Miles is just an incredible athlete. If the Browns are not competing now – or the foreseeable further – then they should try the man to a contender having a better chance to compete and pay Garrett, c’mon!!!
Browns would ask for more than just a 1st-rounder and change. Maybe even two 1st.
Browns should just cut Watson now and choke on the hit. Jimmy’s got the money, and he deserves it for being such a crappy owner.
I think that they’re strongly considering it. The roster is good (might need a Chubb replacement now, unfortunately, after wasting his career jumping between quarterbacks), but the constant flux at QB has ruined any real chance at taking advantage of it. It’s sad, really, because of what this roster could be versus what it is. The AFC North makes it even more difficult to not have an answer at the most important position, and the Browns’ best players won’t be great forever. Trading their number one receiver also probably doesn’t help the QB situation, either.
Seeing Denver and Atlanta taking huge hits for their QBs and moving on (and Atlanta doing so again this year, in all likelihood) might convince Cleveland that this is normal and that they need to do it. The question is whether they want to hold on to their stars for the afterward, or trade them to do a full rebuild (again).
there’s no way for lightning to strike twice .. when the texans trade for garrett and fleece the browns for a second time
I normally don’t ever feel bad for a player that willingly signed an extension with the idea that the franchise was going to do what it took to become Super Bowl contenders. Garrett has been great and has given his all for Cleveland and he has made a truck load of money and he would like to at least have a shot at a championship. Any team that sees him as the last piece they need to get a Super Bowl should be moving heaven and earth to get him because he is a game changer. He will never get that opportunity with the Browns. Loyalty only goes so far.
Imagine if the Vikings get Myles.
Go Bills
There’s a mighty big difference between being able to explain the long term plan and being able to execute that plan. You would think Garrett would understand that.
If the Browns are run like the Jets (they very well could be!), the owners can bust out Madden 25 and show them how they plan to build their roster for next offseason.
“I want them to be able to illuminate that for me, illustrate that for me, so that can be something that I can see in the near future.”
Jimmy Haslam, Myles Garrett and a box of crayons seems about right.
One thought that the Browns should consider, even if it is not very likely, is to try and trade Garrett for a low draft choice but with Watson and at least half of his salary commitment attached. They would be giving away a world class player in Garrett for essentially nothing but at the same time extract them from the Watson mess in a more acceptable manner. Again…not a likely scenario but one that they out to throw out there. You never know, there may be another Browns-type GM and owner who would bite.
I think that teams would take that if Watson’s deal was even somewhat manageable. The fact that it’s guaranteed really hampers it, too. Only a contender or close to contender type team is trading for Garrett, and those teams will have a starter at QB that they won’t sit. They couldn’t fit Watson in and certainly won’t pay him to sit on the bench behind the current QB. I think that the Browns are stuck with Watson (or at least his cap charge) no matter what they do.
Outside of football reasons, I’d imagine that most owners are glad that this failed. If Watson had been a success, guaranteed big money contracts would have been much more common afterward than they are now. The fact that this has been an unmitigated disaster no matter how you look at it has made it much easier for teams to reject them.
I know it would be near impossible but I like that idea . Maybe Atlanta who desperately needs a pass rush. Maybe send back Cousins to try and make it work . I know this is fantasy but I wonder if they could pull something crazy like that off
Myles- it’s Cleveland. It’s a perpetual rebuild.
The DeShawn Watson fall-out continues..
We ever going to learn the truth about his incident with the Pit QB from years back? Someone lied, a controversy ensued and the Pit QB seemed to be the only one who took the heat (and a helmet to the head). Unless I missed something, anyone know if the truth came out?
Buffalo Bills: “Yes please!” 2 firsts? You got it!