NFL Trade Rumors
The NFL offseason has been going on for most teams for a few weeks now. But things really kicked off this week when Browns DE Myles Garrett went public with a trade request, dropping a signed statement that made a big splash and probably left the people of Cleveland feeling more than a little deja vu with another big star looking for a way out of town.
This is huge. Garrett is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and if he’s not the best defensive player in the sport right now, he’s on a short list with two or three others. With four first-team All-Pro selections and 102.5 sacks in eight years, he’s on track for the Hall of Fame and is still only 29 years old. Players like that just don’t change teams that often.
Every single team will at least have a serious internal conversation about what it would take to get Garrett, though the Browns also have to relent off their current stance that trading Garrett isn’t an option. It’s not just about getting a new deal for Garrett — though the guarantees on his current contract have run out and he’s due for a raise — he truly seems disillusioned with the state of the team.
Cleveland has known about this for weeks and hoped to sort it all out in-house. Instead, Garrett blew the lid wide open and effectively kicked off a sweepstakes for his services. Buckle up, because this will likely not quiet down anytime soon.
The Browns drafted Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick in 2017, which was a stroke of good fortune for a franchise infamously short on success. The generational prospect label can be overused but it was fitting for Garrett — a 6-4, 270-pound athletic freak who averaged nearly a sack a game in college. Garrett was a star from Day 1 in the NFL, and by his fourth season, he had gone from great to elite.
Garrett was a vital part in Cleveland snapping its decades-long playoff drought in 2020 and it’s not a coincidence that he was Defensive Player of the Year when the Browns returned to the postseason in 2023. The Browns were all in with Garrett, inking him to a five-year, $150 million deal in July of 2020 after just three years on his rookie deal. For his part, Garrett also seemed to be all-in with the Browns.
This is what Myles Garrett told me just a little over a year ago: “Being with the team that drafted you your entire career and winning a championship with them is the most special thing you can do in your career…” Amazing how much has changed since then https://t.co/NbK2WOU4Rg pic.twitter.com/2QFTPuPEjU
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) February 3, 2025
But nothing takes a toll in the NFL quite like losing. It’s not that Garrett is a stranger to it, the Browns went 0-16 in his rookie...
