Myles Garrett wants out.
Early in February, Browns superstar and former Defensive Player of the Year winner Myles Garrett requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns.
Announcing the trade request via an open letter posted to social media, he stated his desire to compete for a Super Bowl as the reason for wanting out of Cleveland.
Garrett then orchestrated a media tour of Radio Row during Super Bowl week and doubled-tripled-quadrupled down on his desire to be traded. Publicly criticising the Browns as not being aligned with his vision to win now.
A damming declaration from arguably the franchises best player in the Super Bowl era. And another blow to a fanbase that has experienced as much disappointing as any other.
A difficult situation
Since the trade request was announced, the Browns have told anybody who will listen that they are not under any circumstance trading Garrett.
The Browns have no obligation to fulfil Garrett’s request and they have up to four years of contractual control over him – two years remaining on his contract and two franchise tags.
It would also financially cost the team to trade their star player. Garrett is due just under $20 million in 2025 whereas trading him before June would cost $36 million in dead cap.
Any potential trade would have to come post-June 1st which would still come with a double digit dead cap charge.
No team wants to trade away a future first ballot Hall of Famer. Especially not when it would financially hurt the team. So it is understandable why the Browns have emphatically denounced the trade request.
Stalemate
Combine a player willing to go public in his desire to leave and a team unwilling to trade him, and you get a very messy situation.
The Browns find themselves in a stand off with their franchise player. A moment to reflect for a team that only got here due to their own incompetence.
Regardless of where the delegation of blame lies, the Browns are in a stalemate with a player they hoped to extend to a long term contract this offseason.
So who will blink first?
What happens next?
Would the Browns trade Garrett? I would not bet on it.
Any trade for Garrett would not come without a post-June designation. So the public dispute is set to drag on at least until the summer.
Garrett has shown that he is willing to try and force the Browns hand. It might work eventually, but so far the team has not wavered in their stance despite his public comments.
When also factoring in the reluctance to move on from one of the best players of his generation and the financial cost it would take to do so, it appears unlikely that Cleveland will give in to the trade request.
But you can never say never when it comes to the NFL
