If the Rams want to keep their costs down following the Myles Garrett trade, they’d better not consider sending him back to the Browns’ division. According to beat writer Mary Kay Cabot, the conditional third-round pick they’ve received from the Rams has an interesting condition. If the Rams trade Garrett to an AFC North team, that third turns into a first.
The Browns’ full compensation package in the Myles Garrett trade to the Rams includes a 2027 first-round pick, and 2028 second, and a 2029 third, along with Jared Verse, a 2024 first-round edge rusher by Los Angeles. But if, at some point in the next two years, they want to trade him, they have one no-go area.
I don’t know if this is a unique condition, but it’s certainly an interesting one. When most teams trade a star player like Garrett, they generally prefer to send them out of their conference. That’s what the Browns, of the AFC North, did by sending him to the Rams of the NFC West. Teams only play five interconference games per season, and you don’t want to help a conference rival in the standings.
Still, it’s not a terribly burdensome condition. The Rams reportedly wanted badly to trade for Myles Garrett, the Browns insisting they hounded them for months. Being unable to eventually trade him to the Steelers, Ravens, or Bengals isn’t much of a barrier. And if they did want to trade him, they could, in theory, negotiate trade conditions that negate that impact.
Myles Garrett tormented AFC North quarterbacks for almost a decade, so they surely don’t mind that the Browns traded him. After all, he is coming off a 23-sack season, setting a new NFL record. He is still in the prime of his career and one of the best players, full stop, in the league. Even for Steelers fans, that’s a fact that has grown increasingly difficult to deny.
But now he’s actually on a good team, one that is far less likely to lose games in which he records five sacks. The Rams were on the cusp of another Super Bowl appearance and they believe this Myles Garrett trade with the Browns could put them back there again. And in case you haven’t heard, they don’t mind trading picks for proven talent. There’s even a little slogan they have, using a certain four-letter word.
Needless to say, if Garrett has nearly the impact the Rams hope, they’ll have no issue whatsoever with this condition as part of their trade with the Browns. As for Cleveland, they may be accepting reality. They can plainly see that they are no closer to being regularly competitive than they were nearly a decade ago. There is almost no chance they win a Super Bowl within the span of Garrett’s career. Now they have more ammunition to continue, once again, to try to rebuild. And they don’t have Garrett moping around anymore making it clear that he knows he’s better than his circumstances. So if he fails with the Rams, it’s his failure.
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