Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns
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Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns
Conspiracy theory? Perhaps. Very odd Cleveland Browns coincidence? At the very least. Myles Garrett trade precursor? Well …
There was a strange news nugget that fell out of the NFL’s rule-proposal submission process on Wednesday, which revealed that the Browns want to make it possible for teams to trade first-round picks as many as five years into the future, instead of the current three-year limit. It’s a reasonable proposal, and there’s no telling whether it will pass, but among Browns–and general NFL–observers, the most relevant question quickly arose.
Why are the Browns proposing this, and why now?
And there really seemed to be only one plausible answer: The Browns want to ready themselves to trade away Garrett in the coming years, or maybe even months, and they want to be able to pile up the most first-rounders possible in such a deal.
Browns’ Proposal Would ‘Create More Creative Trade Structures’
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero posted the whole text of the Browns’ proposal, and added, “Here’s the full language of the Browns’ proposal to allow teams to trade draft picks up to five years in the future, rather than the current three, in part to ‘create more creative trade structures that better mirror the valuations of both draft selections and players.'”
And maybe one player in particular.
On 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, host Anthony Lima noted that the proposal for the rule change came from Andrew Berry, and Berry’s goal will soon be to maximize leverage in a potential Garrett trade.
Said Lima: “I think there’s a method to his madness. I think this is about aMyles Garrett trade. I think he wants to land one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history and that’s what he’s thinking about.”
That was, immediately, where another Cleveland radio host, Matt Fontana, went after the proposal was revealed. “Getting ready to tradeMyles Garrett?” he wrote on Twitter/X.
Brandon Little, who writes about the Browns for AtoZSports, noted on Twitter/X, “Who wants to send five first round picks forMyles Garrett?”
Is There a 5-Pick Trade Package Out There for Myles Garrett?
There was no shortage of similar speculation about the Browns’ motivations for submitting the rule change, of course, and it is, indeed, hard to imagine there being very many players around the NFL who might warrant a trade package of more than three first-rounders outside of Myles Garrett.
But it remains unlikely. When Garrett made his trade demand last winter, before the Browns signed him to a four-year, $160 million contract, teams were not falling over themselves to give up three first-round picks for him–though there is no certainty as to how serious the Browns would have been about making a deal.
Browns’ Myles Garrett Trade Could Potentially Stretch Draft Pick Return
Now, even as Garrett is coming off breaking the all-time NFL sack record, he is 31 and still with a significant cap hit ahead of him–and with a significant dead cap hit for the Browns. Three first-rounders in consecutive years is an unlikely price, even for Garrett, but maybe if the picks could be spread over five years, teams might view a deal differently.
So a potential deal at next year’s trade deadline would not be five first-rounders for Garrett, but first-rounders in, say, 2027, 2029 and 2031. That would allow the Browns (or, conceivably, anyone with a high-priced trade target) to get fair value and allow the acquiring team to mitigate the blow by still having first-rounders in every other year.
Again, all this is a longshot. But it is the Browns’ proposal, which certainly makes it of interest.