These Browns could follow Myles Garrett out the door as Cleveland embraces the tank

We don't blame you if you still haven't quite wrapped your mind around the fact that Myles Garrett is now a member of the Los Angeles Rams. It felt like the Cleveland Browns had finally put all that trade speculation to bed, only to pull an about-face when everyone least expected it.

But if there's one thing that recent NFL history has taught us, it's that this league never waits for you to catch up. The Garrett deal told us loud and clear that the Browns plan on doing one thing and one thing only in 2026: tank as hard as possible, with an eye toward landing their QB of the future in next spring's NFL Draft. Of course, finishing 2-15 is a lot easier when you've gotten rid of everything that isn't nailed down, which is why Cleveland should expect these veterans to be on the move next.

CB Denzel Ward

Yes, I'm aware that ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported after the Garrett trade that Cleveland was a "hard no" on moving Ward. I also wasn't born yesterday: It wasn't all that long ago that Andrew Berry was calling Garrett himself a "career Brown," and if this front office is really serious about a rebuild, why wouldn't its new most valuable trade asset be available?

Ward just turned 29 last month — the very tail end of your prime as a cornerback — and he's only under contract through 2027. He's not going to be a part of the next competitive Browns team, and who knows how much longer Cleveland will be able to get something of real value for him on the trade market? Given just how hot the corner market was this past offseason, the draft capital could be too rich for Berry to turn down no matter what promises he makes.

WR Jerry Jeudy

As if the writing weren't already on the wall for Jeudy in Cleveland, the additions of KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston in this year's draft — combined with the emergence of tight end Harold Fannin Jr., receiver Isaiah Bond and running back Quinshon Judkins — means that the Browns have a surplus of young skill talent for the first time in what feels like forever.

Jeudy is only under contract through the 2027 season and Cleveland could free up some more cap space by dealing him now that we've passed June 1. In a league that's starved for viable receivers — and with question marks around Rashee Rice's status in Kansas City, Malik Nabers' health in New York and others — there will always be a market, no matter how disappointing he was last year. If the Browns can get anything of substance in return, they're better off moving on and seeing what the young guys can do.

S Grant Delpit

Delpit was quietly one of the better safeties in the NFL last season. He's also entering the final year of his deal, and the decision to draft Emmanuel McNeil-Warren out of Toledo suggests that the Browns are already planning for life without him. Delpit is a solid veteran, but again, if the goals of the 2026 season are to identify building blocks for the future and turn anything else into flexibility and draft capital — and it sure feels like they are — it's hard to see how he fits into that vision. He doesn't play a premium position, but he has the box versatility that is all the rage these days as teams try to defend the run from lighter personnel.

DT Maliek Collins

A season-ending quad injury in Week 13 put a damper on things, but Collins was quietly in the midst of a career year before he got hurt, with 6.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and 13 QB hits. Of course, it remains to be seen just how much of that uptick in production was due to all the attention opposing offensnive lines had to pay to Garrett. Still, he's got a long track record as an interior penetrator, and he's still just 31 years old. As he enters the final year of his contract, he feels like obvious trade bait, whether over the summer or ahead of the trade deadline.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow