Myles Garrett Trade Fallout: Rams, Eagles, Carter, Browns, Verse, McCoy
The trade that sent longtime Browns defensive end Myles Garrett to the Super Bowl-hopeful Rams was a long time in the making — two months and four days, to be exact. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, that’s how long it took for negotiations between Rams general manager Les Snead and his Browns counterpart, Andrew Berry, to conclude.
This wasn’t the first time the Rams had sent an offer to Cleveland; it wasn’t even the second. Los Angeles went shopping for pass rushers around the trade deadline in 2022 and, among offers to several other teams, offered two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder for Garrett, though Berry has no interest in trading him at the time. Then, following this past season, Snead called the Browns in late March and upped the offer.
The offer purely comprising of draft capital was not going to be enough, as Cleveland made clear following the draft that Rams defensive end Jared Verse would have to be a part of any trade, but it demonstrated how serious Los Angeles was about getting a deal done.
Over the long course of these negotiations, Berry made sure to keep Garrett in the loop. Per Breer, Garrett wasn’t the only one hearing from Berry. The seventh-year GM reportedly reached out to three well-known personnel executives in other sports. St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti, and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas were trusted for advice and expertise, especially given Bloom and Presti’s trade experience in their respective sports. The trio’s input led to the team’s insistence on getting a player — not just draft picks — in the return-side of the trade.
Before ultimately agreeing to the final terms, Jimmy Haslam and his family hosted Berry and Garrett for one last meeting to reminisce and make sure Garrett was good with how things were concluding. Garrett’s contract included a no-trade clause, so his go-ahead was a crucial part of the deal, and according to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, it was a decision Garrett needed to “sleep on” before finally waiving the no-trade clause.
In the immediate fallout of the trade, some rumors emerged that the Eagles had been a team that expressed interest in trading for Garrett and that defensive tackle Jalen Carter was a potential trade target for Cleveland. Negating that notion, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported this week that Philadelphia “never made a play” for Garrett and that “there’s zero chance they would’ve wanted (Carter) in return.”
The player the Browns did want, Verse, also had some negative feelings about being traded, not towards his new team but in regard to leaving his home of the past two seasons. After the Rams drafted Verse at No. 19 overall in 2024, Verse rewarded them with two Pro Bowl campaigns to go along with his own Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
In his introductory news conference in Cleveland (via Andy Backstrom of Yahoo Sports), Verse told the media, “I loved LA. I loved the coaches, the organization, my teammates, everybody a part of it, the fans — I loved the whole vibe of LA, the Los Angeles Rams, and it was upsetting. I was upset for a good little bit of time.”
The last tidbit of information relayed by Breer pertains to a different trade the team performed in the offseason. Los Angeles traded its second first-round pick in this past year’s draft, the 29th overall pick, to Kansas City in a package of picks that landed them Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie in return. Per Breer, the Rams had interest in Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy at the end of the first round, but when his draft stock plummeted for medical reasons, the team pivoted and made the move for McDuffie. McDuffie and Garrett now stand as two gigantic additions to a team looking to make the most of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford‘s last few good years.
Rams Rework Myles Garrett’s Contract
Myles Garrett became the rare edge rusher to change teams in a trade involving a first-round pick and not receive an immediate extension. As our most recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece detailed, Garrett is set to be first EDGE to be traded for a future first — excluding pick-for-pick trades — this century and not receive an extension.
We learned following the trade the Rams were not planning an immediate pay bump for the future Hall of Famer, but the sides have agreed to rework the contract the Browns designed last March. The Rams and Garrett agreed on an adjusted deal Thursday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports. While this can be framed as a five-year, $204MM agreement, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes it does not provide a raise or add any years to his Cleveland agreement.
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Garrett signed a four-year, $160MM Browns extension nearly 15 months ago. Because two seasons were left on his first Browns extension — a five-year, $125MM pact agreed to in summer 2020 — his current deal runs through 2030.
Garrett set a single-season sack record in 2025, proving he remains probably the game’s premier edge rusher and one of the NFL’s best overall players, and his Browns re-up triggered a sea change on the EDGE market. T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson and Will Anderson Jr. have leapfrogged Garrett’s $40MM-per-year deal in terms of AAV. Anderson moved the bar to $50MM per year in April.
But the Garrett trade was more about a team resetting and cashing in on its top asset to accelerate a rebuild, as opposed to most high-profile trades at this position. Of the seven other 21st-century instances of edge rushers being dealt for packages involving a first-rounder — for Parsons, Bradley Chubb, Frank Clark, Khalil Mack, Jared Allen, John Abraham, Kevin Carter — all involved immediate raises. So did three recent deals involving a second-rounder being swapped for an edge defender (Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Dee Ford). The Rams having an opportunity to acquire Garrett without needing to authorize a top-market extension created even more value for the Browns in this trade, which sent Jared Verse and three draft choices (including a 2027 first-rounder) to Cleveland.
The rework will increase Garrett’s 2026 pay from $31.5MM to $37MM, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds. Like they did with Matthew Stafford in 2024, the Rams are moving money from future years into the current campaign. The Thursday adjustment also moves option bonuses to signing bonuses in some cases, per Fowler.
Garrett’s Browns deal already contained $41.7MM in 2027 guarantees. Today’s agreement, which includes $37MM guaranteed at signing, will reduce Garrett’s 2027 guarantees by $10.7MM but increase the 2028 guarantees by $7.2MM, Florio notes.
By 2027, Garrett will see a total of $62MM in injury guarantees vest, Florio adds. That makes this an appealing package for both team and player, as a two-time Defensive Player of the Year is still attached to the league’s fifth-most-lucrative EDGE AAV and said player will see a mammoth guarantee come his way next year.
This amounts to a three-year deal with two team options, with the Rams keeping Browns terms for the nonguaranteed 2029 and 2030 years; Garrett will be due an $8MM roster bonus in March 2029 and March 2030. The cap numbers will be important to observe on this rework, as the Rams have surely adjusted the contract to help in that regard.
The Rams entered Thursday with $18.29MM in cap space. Although Los Angeles moved off Verse, it has a host of extension-eligible young players. The 2023 draft brought Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Warren McClendon to L.A. Nacua is believed to be the top priority, but the Rams have not executed any extensions for that draft class yet. The team did give Stafford a one-year, $55MM extension. More deals should be expected.
It will be interesting to see if Garrett pushes for a true raise soon. The Rams have shown in the past — via their bumps for Donald and Cooper Kupp in 2022 — they are willing to reward cornerstone players with multiple seasons remaining on contracts. Garrett’s camp forcing the issue in the future would not surprise, but the trove of guaranteed money vesting next year should satisfy the superstar defender for the foreseeable future.
Rams Do Not Plan On Adjusting Myles Garrett’s Contract
As part of this week’s blockbuster Myles Garrett trade, the Rams agreed to take on a contract which was the NFL’s most lucrative non-QB deal when it was signed. No immediate changes to it are forthcoming.
The Rams do not intend to adjust Garrett’s existing contract, Jourdan Rodrigue and Zac Jackson of The Athletic report. The pact – which was agreed to last year and resulted in a trade request being rescinded – runs through 2030. It carries an average annual value of $40MM, a figure which briefly represented the new high point for the EDGE market.
Thanks to the contract tweak which pushed back the payment date for Garrett’s option bonuses, he is owed a total of $31.5MM in guaranteed money from the Rams for 2026. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year also has $41.7MM locked in for 2027. Option bonuses are scheduled throughout the life of the deal, but no salaries are guaranteed from 2028 onwards. It would come as little surprise if a restructure of some kind were to take place, but nothing is currently imminent.
“I will say this for [agent] Nicole [Lynn],” Rams GM Les Snead said when addressing the trade (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). “We wouldn’t have been able to get this done without us working pretty tirelessly since the weekend. We didn’t have a lot of time to discuss contract, but thank you, Nicole.”
Garrett waived his no-trade clause to help facilitate the deal, one which saw fellow Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse and three picks head to Cleveland. A raise would help reflect Garrett’s importance to his new team while also keeping pace with surges in the pass rush market. Since the five-time All-Pro inked his 2025 extension, each of Danielle Hunter, T.J. Watt, Aidan Hutchinson, Micah Parsons and Will Anderson Jr. have signed deals carrying a higher AAV. Anderson’s new Texans contract currently sets the pace at an average of $50MM per year.
Agreeing to terms on a similar pact would of course be challenging for the Rams, given their financial commitments over the short term in particular to a number of expensive veterans. Los Angeles also has a group of key players nearing the end of their rookie contracts who will be due healthy raises in the near future. Maintaining the rest of the defensive front Garrett will now operate as a member of, for instance, will require several big-money commitments.
For now, at least, Garrett’s attention will be aimed at acclimating to a new team for the first time in his decorated career. It will be interesting to see when talks on a restructure or extension commence and whether or not an agreement can be reached.
Browns Trade Myles Garrett To Rams
JUNE 3: The third-rounder in 2029 is conditional, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. It will turn into a first-rounder if the Rams trade Garrett to a team in the Browns’ division, the AFC North.
JUNE 1, 11:20pm: Both teams have announced the trade. It is indeed Garrett for Verse, a 2027 first-rounder, a 2028 second-rounder and a 2029 third-rounder.
12:23pm: Myles Garrett‘s time in Cleveland is coming to an end. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year is being traded from the Browns to the Rams, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero and ESPN’s Adam Schefter report.
The full trade terms, per Schefter, consist of Garrett being traded for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a second-round selection in 2028 and a 2029 third-rounder. This swap is not official yet, as Browns GM Andrew Berry confirms (video link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). Once it is processed, though, it will no doubt go down as a seminal moment for both franchises.
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Schefter reports Garrett has chosen to waive his no-trade clause to allow for this deal to take place. He will retain that clause upon arrival in Los Angeles. As Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes, today’s stunning swap represents the first time in history a reigning Defensive Play of the Year has been dealt.
Garrett has been the subject of trade speculation since he requested to be dealt last spring. That request was rescinded when a then-record extension was worked out. The seven-time Pro Bowler seemed to be in position to remain with Cleveland for years to come, but questions continued to be raised after the 2025 campaign saw him add further to his long list of accolades without any accompanying team success. Indeed, whispers about a trade lingered through the 2026 offseason.
In March, the Browns restructured Garrett’s contract in a way which did not add any new money or years to the pact. Nevertheless, the payment dates for his option bonuses were pushed back to one week before the start of the regular season. That move extended the window of opportunity for a trade – something Cleveland has denied would be taking place on multiple occasions – to be worked out.
June 1 is always a key checkpoint on the NFL calendar, and it was recently labeled the time after which a Garrett trade could occur. Just like the case of A.J. Brown, a deal formally being worked out any time after 3:00pm this afternoon will greatly impact the salary cap implications of the deal. Proceeding with this trade in a post-June 1 fashion will generate $8.34MM in cap savings for Cleveland with a $41MM dead money charge being spread out (and accounting for $15.53MM in 2026). Garrett’s contract runs through 2030.
Per Rapoport (video link), the Rams engaged in trade talks with the Browns shortly after the contract adjustment was made. Their efforts continued through the draft, with Cleveland remaining steadfast in rejecting offers. Things changed when Los Angeles general manager Les Snead offered to include Verse in the deal, though. Negotiations on an adjusted package of picks have now resulted in an agreement. Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Rams informed Verse of the news earlier today.
Garrett has made clear his intention of playing on a contending team particularly toward the latter stages of his career. This blockbuster trade will help in that regard; the Rams fell just short of a Super Bowl appearance in 2025 and have made other win-now moves on defense since then. Garrett will join cornerback Trent McDuffie as a new face tasked with elevating Los Angeles’ defense while the teams seeks out another high-end campaign from quarterback Matthew Stafford and Co. on offense.
The Rams were a strong Brown suitor, but Breer notes their inability to acquire him helped set up this Garrett push. Another lucrative pact – one which averages $40MM per year – is now on the books, but Los Angeles will have a future Hall of Famer leading the way along a defensive front which was already among the league’s best. This acquisition will further deprive the Rams of draft capital (which was critical in establishing the post-Aaron Donald core on defense); then again, Snead’s stance when it comes to picks is rather well known.
Verse, whom Schefter notes was born in Dayton, Ohio, has enjoyed a strong start to his career. The 2024 first-rounder took home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors while thriving in a full-time starting role. Last season, the 25-year-old collected a second Pro Bowl nod in as many years while posting 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. His rookie contract runs through 2028, and Cleveland could keep him in place for a longer period via the fifth-year option.
Since Verse is five years younger than Garrett, he will align better with the roster reset Berry is overseeing. The 2025 class offered promising early results with respect to a new core emerging for Cleveland. The fate of the quarterback position beyond 2026 is unclear, but additional capital should help yield options on that front or at least provide upgrades at other spots.
In a series of remarks which have proved to provide noteworthy foreshadowing, new Browns head coach Todd Monken said earlier on Monday (video link via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan) he was not given any assurances upon being hired about Garrett remaining with the team. Instead of having the single-season sack record holder in the fold for his first year leading an NFL team, Monken will be tasked with integrating Verse and developing the group of younger players brought in via Cleveland’s haul of draft picks.
Rams Pursued Myles Garrett In 2022; Multiple Teams Submitted Offers For Browns DE In 2026
The Rams traded for Myles Garrett in a blockbuster deal with the Browns on Monday, but this was not the first time they attempted to acquire the All-Pro pass rusher.
Los Angeles’ pursuit of Garrett dates back to 2022, per Jourdan Rodrigue and Zac Jackson of The Athletic, when they were looking to reload and chase back-to-back Super Bowls. The Browns were not interested in moving Garrett then, nor had he made any effort to leave Cleveland.
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The Rams, who also sent the Panthers an offer of two first-rounders and a third for Brian Burns, considered trading for Garrett again the next year but instead opted for a soft reset year as they developed their young talent. The Rams re-engaged after the Browns adjusted Garrett’s contract earlier this offseason. General manager Andrew Berry insisted the alterations were unrelated to a potential trade, but he protested too much.
Multiple teams submitted offers for Garrett, with the Rams emerging as the most persistent suitor, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Their package – first-, second-, and third-round picks plus 2024 first-round edge rusher Jared Verse – was too good to pass up. (The third-rounder, slated for the 2029 draft, is conditional, according to Howard Balzer of Cardswire.)
“No regrets,” Berry said (via Jackson). “Why now? The opportunity was too great.” Unlike last year, he added, Garrett did not request a move out of Cleveland.
The opportunity Berry speaks of is twofold. First is getting a young, cost-controlled edge rusher whose advanced metrics outpace his traditional production, something that was likely especially appealing to the Browns’ analytically-minded front office. Verse cannot replace Garrett – no player can – but he will still ensure high-quality play off the edge that no one else on Cleveland’s roster could replicate.
Second, and more importantly for the Browns, is adding draft capital that will help them land their desired quarterback prospect in 2027. Cleveland has been stuck in a black hole at the position for years; its annual search for a starter is practically a running joke around the NFL. Garrett should still have years of high-level play left in him, but at 30 years old, he is an imperfect fit for the Browns’ timeline, which is centered around strong draft classes in the last two years and finding a franchise QB next year.
Negotiations between the Rams and the Browns took off this spring with both teams growing confident in a deal by April’s draft. That was part of the calculus in Los Angeles’ surprising first-round selection of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Solidifying the future of the position allowed the Rams to sacrifice future draft picks that could have otherwise been spent on a different Matthew Stafford successor. Locking down a cost-controlled QB on a rookie deal will also ease the financial strain of absorbing Garrett’s contract along with Trent McDuffie‘s extension and potential long-term deals with players like Puka Nacua, Byron Young, Kobie Turner, and Braden Fiske.
Myles Garrett Fallout: Schwartz, Eagles, Quotes
Following this afternoon’s stunning Myles Garrett trade, we’re learning new details about what ultimately led to the Browns deal with the Rams. Unlike last year, Garrett did not request a trade, per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi.
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However, the reporter notes that “an air of uncertainty lingered over the relationship” between the player and the Browns, and Garrett remained open to “new scenery.” The player continued to make it clear that his commitment to the organization was contingent on them being competitive.
That obviously didn’t come to fruition in 2025, as the Browns finished with only five victories. However, Garrett did have a prolific season that saw him break the NFL sack record. The pass rusher also earned his second Defensive Player of the Year award, with both of his accolades coming while playing in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz‘s system. So, it’s not a surprise that the Browns’ decision to pass over Schwartz for their head coaching gig “didn’t help matters” when it came to Garrett sticking in Cleveland, per Oyefusi.
We heard earlier that the Rams were persistent in their pursuit of the defender, but the Browns did make their star edge rusher available to other potential suitors. However, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that the list of landing spots ultimately proved to be limited since Cleveland was focused on acquiring a “young, ascending pass rusher” in exchange for Garrett. The team specifically had eyes on Jared Verse, so the Rams were seemingly in the driver seat throughout the unofficial sweepstakes.
One team that also expressed interest in acquiring Garrett was the Eagles, although NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Ryan Fowler describes their pursuit as more “exploratory.” Fowler believes Philly would have had to surrender someone like Nolan Smith or Jalyx Hunt plus a combination of picks to pull off the blockbuster trade, and the Eagles front office determined that asking price was the “tipping point.” Jalen Carter was also mentioned as a potential trade target of the Browns, but Fowler says there was “zero potential” of that swap coming to fruition.
The Browns continually stated that they wanted Garrett to play his entire career in Cleveland, and their four-year, $160MM reinforced that point. Browns GM Andrew Berry provided some insight into what changed the front office’s mind about dealing their star player.
“We have long taken the stance that our goal was for Myles Garrett to be a one-helmet player for his entire career,” Berry said (via Bleacher Report’s James Palmer). “After rewriting the record books and representing our organization with excellence, we were sincere in that desire as we entered this offseason and did not envision a world where Myles was not a Cleveland Brown.
Latest On Browns, DE Myles Garrett
Joe Thomas was content to stay in Cleveland for the duration of his career despite the team fielding perennially bad rosters during the Hall of Fame tackle’s run. This situation involved the All-Pro being discussed in trades in his early 30s.
Thomas’ age-31 season nearly saw him moved to the Broncos, but the Browns stood down. Thomas said ahead of the 2016 trade deadline he wanted to stay in Cleveland, and a new Browns regime — one that had current GM Andrew Berry as a key front office presence — did not move the decorated left tackle. These decisions came during a 4-44 stretch. Thomas retired after the 2017 season, never being part of a Browns playoff team.
Myles Garrett will turn 31 later this year, and while the Browns have not been nearly as bad during his career (which has featured two playoff berths), the two-time Defensive Player of the Year is trapped as a dominant performer on one of the NFL’s worst teams. That brings a familiar situation for the Browns.
Garrett also requested a trade early during the 2025 offseason. The Berry-led Browns have continually stood against moving their future Hall of Fame pass rusher, who backed off his trade ask once the team gave him a then-defender-record four-year, $160MM extension. The team did not move Garrett’s new contract after emerging in a seller’s position at yet another trade deadline, and he proceeded to break the single-season sack record weeks later.
Garrett’s contract has since been surpassed by four edge rushers — T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson, Will Anderson Jr. — as the market has climbed to $50MM per year. We heard earlier this year another Garrett raise would be more likely than a trade, but Cleveland’s decision to rework the 10th-year veteran’s contract this offseason triggered trade speculation.
The Browns shifted Garrett option bonus dates from March until just before the regular season from 2026-28. For 2026, that means a $29.2MM guaranteed payment is due seven days before Week 1. June 1 also looms as a key date pertaining to the Browns, and Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes a trade after that point should not be ruled out.
Some execs around the NFL are also interpreting Garrett’s absence from Browns OTAs as a sign of the player regretting his decision to sign a 2025 extension with the struggling team, Sportsboom.com’s Jason La Canfora notes. (To be fair, Garrett has missed Browns OTA work in the past as well.) Garrett has voiced frustration about the Browns’ losing at several points. Days before he set the single-season sack record, the former No. 1 overall pick said he wants to contend rather than rebuild.
Given his age, that stance is unsurprising. Garrett has also seen the Browns pass on adding a quarterback this offseason, with an uninspiring Deshaun Watson–Shedeur Sanders position battle commencing. The Browns are not expected to contend this season, and our Adam La Rose indicated during a recent PFR mailbag a trade would be the best course of action for the Browns in order to equip them with prime draft assets. Todd Monken — who was the Browns’ OC during Garrett’s abbreviated (due to the Mason Rudolph helmet strike) 2019 season — has since revealed he has not spoken with Garrett since being hired as head coach.
From a value standpoint, the Browns erred by not trading Thomas late in his career. An additional first-round pick and perhaps more would have been unlikely to save that version of the Browns, and a case can be made moving Garrett would create a massive hole for the foreseeable future. But the Browns may need more draft ammo to chase a long-term QB option. Garrett would bring back at least a first-rounder in a trade, and given what the Ravens were set to send the Raiders for Maxx Crosby (two firsts), Cleveland would assuredly ask for at least that for a player coming off a 23-sack season.
The Browns trading Garrett after June 1 would lessen their 2026 dead money blow to $15.53MM, per OverTheCap, while creating more than $8MM in cap space. However, the team would see a bigger dead money hit in 2027 — when the Watson dead cap offseasons will begin (assuming the Browns designate Watson as a post-June 1 cut next year, which appears likely, it will bring an $86.2MM dead money bill split between 2027 and ’28).
Adding Garrett dead money would create a more daunting task for Monken, who will presumably be the coach stuck with the Watson dead money after Kevin Stefanski coached the Browns with the QB on lower cap hits via restructures. But the Browns are running out of time to cash out on their top asset. Garrett’s contract runs through 2030, but given the changes on the EDGE market since that deal was finalized, it is likely he will be asking for a raise in the near future. That will presumably also impact teams’ desire to trade for him.
Offering some pushback to Garrett trade rumors, TheLandonDemand.com’s Tony Grossi does not expect the all-world sack artist to be moved after June 1. However, Grossi does acknowledge the rumors will persist due to the recent contract rework. With more Crosby rumors likely coming between now and the deadline, Garrett interest is undoubtedly set to commence as well.
Browns DE Myles Garrett More Likely To Get Raise Than Be Traded?
The Browns’ recent adjustment to Myles Garrett‘s contract once again stirred trade speculation about the five-time All-Pro, but the team has consistently refuted those claims. A pay raise to match the top of an ever-rising edge rusher market is thought to be more likely, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Garrett, 30, requested a trade last offseason and instead received a four-year, $160MM extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history. He has since been surpassed by six players, including four edge rushers led by Micah Parsons at $46.5MM per year.
Now, Will Anderson is projected to approach a $50MM AAV on his long-term extension with the Texans. But statistically, Garrett is still the best in the league. Last year, he set a single-season record with 23.0 sacks and led the NFL with 33 tackles for loss, which earned him his second Defensive Player of the Year trophy in the last three years. Until and unless another player is able to match or surpass his production, he will always have an argument to see his contract value rise with the market.
Cleveland was willing to hand Garrett a new deal last offseason, perhaps partially out of appreciation for his patience with their never-ending rebuild. But he is now under contract through 2030, so a raise via an extension may not make sense. The two sides could instead agree on an entirely new deal, which may have been the motivation for the recent contract modification. By pushing back the option payment date, they have more time to see where the market goes over the next few months and reward Garrett appropriately before the season begins.
Browns Not Planning To Trade Myles Garrett
MARCH 30: New Browns head coach Todd Monken echoed a similar sentiment when asked about Garrett’s status with the organization.
“I don’t see a time where I would not want Myles Garrett part of our team,” Monken said during an appearance on NFL Network (via Tom Pelissero). “I don’t — I can’t even envision that, where I would not want Myles Garrett to be a Cleveland Brown.”
MARCH 29: The Browns recently agreed to a revised contract with All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett, who saw his option bonus dates pushed back from the first week of the league year to the week before the regular season begins.
The adjustment makes it more financially feasible to trade Garrett. Any deal would have to take place after June 1 to allow Cleveland to push some of the resulting dead money into 2027. Previously, Garrett’s option would have triggered in March, adding another $31.5MM in prorated cap hits to the Browns’ ledger and increasing the dead cap charges over $70MM, per OverTheCap.
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By pushing back the option bonus date, the Browns could execute a post-June 1 trade with Garrett’s new team taking on the payments (and cap hits). But general manager Andrew Berry is maintaining his long-held stance that the team would not be trading Garrett.
“If we wanted to trade Myles, we wouldn’t have needed to make a contract adjustment,” Berry said on Sunday (via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi). “So it doesn’t have anything to do with that.”
Technically, Berry is correct. The Browns could have left Garrett’s contract as is and traded him after June 1, which would have left just over $21MM in dead money in 2026 with the other $59MM set to hit in 2027. They would see an increase in 2026 cap space with plenty of time to adjust other contracts and budget for the remaining dead money the following year.
But the new contract still makes those numbers significantly more favorable for Cleveland’s finances, which are already in a somewhat precarious state due to the Deshaun Watson deal, which will leave more than $130MM in dead money when it voids next year. Reducing the overall amount of potential dead money from a Garrett trade is certainly worth doing, if only for the flexibility. It is also worth noting that the option bonus payment dates were pushed back in each remaining year of Garrett’s contract, which essentially preserves this flexibility for the rest of the deal.
Garrett, though, has a no-trade clause. He was willing to make this alteration, which offers him some unknown benefits, likely relating to his payment schedule. His blessing would still be required for any sort of a trade, but this latest contract revision will ensure that such speculation will continue to be an annual affair.
Browns Modify Myles Garrett’s Contract
A slight change has been made to Myles Garrett‘s Browns contract. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year has agreed to push back the payment dates on his option bonuses, ESPN’s Field Yates reports.
Garrett was originally owed those payments on the 15th day of the league year each season from 2026-28. In the case of this year, that fell on Wednesday, with Yates noting this revision was finalized one day earlier. Now, Garrett is in line to collect the money one week before the start of the regular season in each year (bringing his contract in line with other Cleveland pacts in that respect).
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As detailed by Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, this move will not yield any cap savings for the Browns unless the value of the option bonuses ($10MM in 2026, $13MM in 2027 and $7MM in 2028) have been changed. It would certainly come as a surprise if that were to be the case. Per Yates, the changes have nevertheless taken place in a way “that has benefit” to Garrett, who inked a four-year, $160MM extension last offseason. Yates adds that $8MM in base salary has been converted to roster bonuses for 2029 and ’30; they are scheduled to be paid out early in those league years.
Some observers have noted this tweak to Garrett’s deal would make a hypothetical trade more viable. Delaying option payments until just before the start of the season would indeed widen Cleveland’s window of opportunity to work out a trade with interested teams. The 30-year-old’s 2025 extension contains a no-trade clause, however, so he would need to approve of any potential swap. Garrett’s current focus will remain on helping lead the Browns to a rebound in 2026. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com confirms no thought is currently being given to a trade.
The five-time All-Pro broke the single-season sack record (23) in 2025, leading to his second career Defensive Player of the Year nod. Strong defensive showings will be expected once again for the Browns moving forward, and Garrett will of course be counted on the lead the way for years to come. In the event of continued struggles on the team’s part, though, trade speculation will no doubt pick up once more.