Pride of Detroit
Myles Garrett has requested a trade. Do the Detroit Lions have a realistic shot of getting involved?
Myles Garrett went public on Monday morning, officially requesting for a trade from the Cleveland Browns after eight seasons with the team that drafted him first overall in 2017. It’s not often that a player of Garrett’s skill becomes available. He’s a four-time All Pro, earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023, and has produced seven straight seasons of 10+ sacks.
With the Detroit Lions so close to being a Super Bowl contender and a glaring need at defensive end moving forward, it’s only natural for Lions fans to be screaming at the top of their lungs to get a deal done. But is it realistic? Would general manager Brad Holmes do it? Let’s break it down.
That is very much to be determined. Browns GM Andrew Berry told media as recently as last week that he was not going to field calls from people seeking a trade for Garrett. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, that stance has not changed in light of Garrett’s public request.
Something has to give here, and while it could certainly be Berry—and it may make sense to do a franchise-rebooting move like this a la Matthew Stafford and the Lions in 2021—more often than not it’s the players who eventually are forced to back down. We shall see.
No one knows for sure, as it’s extremely rare for a pass rusher of Garrett’s caliber to be available particularly in the prime of his career—he turned 29 in December. The general consensus is that it would likely cost two first-round picks, maybe more, maybe less. The closest thing to historical context would be the 2018 trade of Khalil Mack. The Bears gave up two first-round picks, a third-round pic, and a sixth-round pick to acquire Mack, who was 27 at the time.
The main difference between those trades is that Mack only had four years under his belt at that point and was on the final year of his rookie contract. Garrett has played eight seasons and has two more remaining years on his contract. So it’s realistic to think the Browns won’t get quite that kind of haul, but it should still be massive.
As far as the contract a trading team would inherit with Garrett, it would be expensive, but manageable:
Cap hits of $20 million and $25 million in 2025 and 2026 would rank approximately 10th and eighth at the position, respectively.
The question is whether Garrett would require an extension. If his goals are simply to win a Super Bowl, as he claims, it’s possible he would agree to a landing spot without a new contract. However, I think teams should be preparing to potentially hand him a new deal that would cost at least $35 million a...
