Browns can check two boxes to keep Myles Garrett despite trade request

The Cleveland Browns are in the unenviable position of owing one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL more than $70 million annually as he rehabs from a twice-torn Achilles. One has to imagine that factors into the recent trade request of Myles Garrett.

A former DPOY and six-time All-Pro defensive end, Garrett asked out of Cleveland after a brutal three-win season. Garrett has spent his entire career with the Browns to date, but he's itching to compete at the highest level. It has been a struggle for Cleveland to reach the playoffs, much less win games on that stage.

Garrett has requested a ticket out the door, but he's under contract for two more years and the Browns aren't technically obligated to trade him. In fact, the widespred belief around the NFL is that Garrett will remain in Cleveland for the time being. He can make life uncomfortable in the locker room, even on the field, but the Browns have plenty of motivation to salvage this partnership if it's at all possible. The Browns want to win, too, and Garrett has been essential to their success for almost a decade.

As Mike Sando of The Athletic outlines, there is a slim path forward for the Browns-Garrett partnership. If the Browns let this request sputter out and improve the situation around the 29-year-old, he could change his tune. Never say never.

Browns need to take drastic measures to appease anxious Myles Garrett

"It's always about the money right?" Sando writes. "Three decades of covering this league took my mind there first upon hearing the news Garrett wanted out of Cleveland."

Garrett is due $19.7 million in 2025 and $20.3 million in 2026, which sits well below the market value for arguably the most disruptive defender in football. He proclaims a desire to win, but one has to think Garrett might think twice about asking out if the Browns come to him with plans to bump up that salary a significant amount.

There is also the football side of things, though. While the Browns need to plug a lot of holes in the roster, it starts with quarterback. Deshaun Watson is an albatross around Cleveland's neck. If the Browns can chart a new, more viable course at the QB position, it could convince Garrett that he can reach the Super Bowl in Northeast Ohio.

"It's also plausible under these specific circumstances for Garrett to want out because he no longer sees the Browns' timeline as aligned with his own," Sando writes. "The Deshaun Watson situation hovers over the organization like a cloud."

Garrett is clearly anxious about the state of affairs in Cleveland. Watson has not only underperformed, but his contract has completely hamstrung the front office, preventing impact additions and putting a financial squeeze on other key pieces, himself included. The Browns paying Garrett his worth is more challenging with Watson on the books. If Watson also can't win football games either, the Browns are screwed.

The path to upgrading the QB position is... complicated, to say the least. The Browns could land Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, but rookie quarterbacks seldom guarantee high-level winning. Jayden Daniels was an anomaly, not the blueprint. This is a weak quarterback class. There's a nonzero chance Ward and Sanders would've been second-round picks a year ago.

The free agent options aren't ideal either. Sam Darnold put together a magical campaign in Minnesota, but that probably puts him out of Cleveland's price range thanks to Watson. Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers might come cheap, but past-prime vets on the wrong end of career-altering knee injuries is a questionable recipe for success. Justin Fields? Russell Wilson? Trey Lance. The Browns don't have a ton of great options.

This Garrett situation will probably get more tenuous before anything is resolved. That said, if Cleveland can pull a rabbit out of their hat at QB and line up a lucrative new contract, the relationship isn't necessarily dead.