**Myles Garrett**
If the Cleveland Browns decide to trade Myles Garrett this offseason then they won't have paid him a dollar for the 2026 season, meaning the new team would be paying him the full $32.5m is he owed for 2026. This would only be a $9.14m cap number in 2026 for the acquiring team.
The Browns would have a dead cap left to account for based on money he has been paid in the last four years. His current salary cap hit for the 2026 season is $23,674,000 but this would jump to $41,090,225 with a trade. They could wait until after June 1st to trade him (there is no designation to do this in advance), it would still be a $41,090,225 dead cap but split to $15,534,000 in 2026 and $25,556,225 in 2027. The issue with waiting until June 2nd is you miss out on 2026 draft picks, which feels unlikely.
**Denzel Ward**
With Denzel Ward they have already paid $2.5m of his $20m cash cost for the 2026 season, meaning the new team would take on $17.5m for 2026. The salary cap cost for the new team would be all $17.5m but they could restructure it.
His current salary cap number for the Browns in 2026 is $30,893,412. If he was traded this would increase his dead cap cost slightly higher than his current deal to $32,156,200. The restructure though would reduce this to $18,413,412.
If they made both of these trade then it would take their current cap space from $21,393,672 to $2,714,659. The issue is they need $12,129,541 to sign their draft picks. There are some other minor moves they could make but it feels like it is either one of these two deals or they do one after June 1st.