Browns' Myles Garrett decision is most Browns move imaginable for more than one reason

The Cleveland Browns are one of the league’s most star-crossed and downtrodden franchises. Disgruntled players have been traded to Cleveland as punishment by scorned general managers. Aging veterans have signed with the team as a last resort. In short, Cleveland has become a graveyard where careers go to die.

The days of Jim Brown and championship football are long gone. Since the franchise was resurrected as an expansion team in 1999, the Browns have won just 141 games (.336) of their 420 regular season games. That doesn’t mean Cleveland hasn’t had talented players on their roster. Afforded a high draft pick nearly every year, the Browns had the opportunity to ruin or waste plenty of careers. 

Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas spent the entirety of his 11-year career hopelessly anchoring the blindside for a rotating door of quarterbacks. The Browns finally broke his spirit during the 2017 season. Thomas retired after a three-year stretch in which the Browns had just four combined wins (.083). 

Just as Thomas’ career came to an unceremonious end, defensive end Myles Garrett began to blossom. Now, Cleveland wants the same sacrifice that Thomas made from their latest Hall of Fame player.

Joe Thomas 2.0? Myles Garrett may be destined to suffer with Browns

Garrett lost faith in the team’s ability to turn things around and formally requested a trade this offseason, but the Browns are determined to hold him captive. During an appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero discussed how the Browns have been reluctant to entertain the idea of trading Garrett.

“What the Browns have said behind the scenes is that they’re not going to trade Myles Garrett,” Pelissero said. “My understanding is that they’ve gotten calls, people are not necessarily getting calls back from the Browns about Myles Garrett right now. He’s a really unique player, he’s a future Hall of Famer, he’s one of the great players in all of Browns history at this point. He’s a former Defensive Player of the Year and still very much in his prime at this stage. However, these things can evolve. That’s their stance right now.”

The eight-year veteran is becoming more aware of his football mortality as he inches closer to his 30th birthday. Garrett, who has spent his entire career with the Browns, is currently heading down the same career path as Thomas, and the odds of becoming a Super Bowl champion are fading. 

“The real pressure points here with Myles Garrett, the main one is going to arrive at the [2025 NFL] Draft,” Pelissero said. “The real pivot point would be the draft. Because if you’re going to trade a Myles Garrett, you’re going to get premier draft capital in return, and you’re not going to want to hold him until camp and then be trading for draft capital that can’t help you in 2025.”

The Browns selected the Texas A&M product with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and he has dominated opposing quarterbacks ever since. Garrett has accomplished nearly everything he can as an individual player. He was named the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and has earned six Pro Bowl nods to go along with four first-team All-Pro selections. Yet, he hasn’t come close to experiencing playoff success.

Trading Garrett wouldn’t be easy for Cleveland due to the salary cap ramifications. A trade before June 1 would carry a dead salary cap charge of $36 million in 2025. That dead money would drop to $14.8 million if Cleveland traded him after June 1, but they wouldn’t be able to get any draft picks for the 2025 NFL Draft in April. That would made negotiations even more difficult. Garrett would likely have to restructure his deal to make the deal work, but Cleveland would take a cap hit regardless.