AFC North quarterbacks may have popped champagne after hearing about the Myles Garrett trade, but Alex Wright grabbed another beverage. He wouldn’t say what, specifically, but I imagine it had a respectable ABV. The fifth-year Browns edge rusher grew up in the league learning from Garrett, but now finds himself on his own.
“Something told me to go on Twitter”, Wright said about how he heard about the Browns trading Myles Garrett. “I thought it was like a regular fake trade or something like that. I remember I got a text, and then I got the ESPN notification. Then when I’d seen Adam Schefter, it was like, ‘Yeah, let me go get a drink right quick’”.
Garrett is a two-time defensive player of the year coming off a record-breaking season. Alex Wright has 11.5 career sacks in four years with the Browns. While they’re getting Jared Verse back as part of the Garrett trade with the Rams, it’s clear that it’s up to Wright to step up for the Browns.
“People called my phone, it was a whole lot of, ‘You’re the guy now’. It’s like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I want to see what’s going on first”, Wright said, processing the news of the Garrett trade. “And I turned on the TV it’s on YouTube, it’s on Facebook, it’s on Twitter, it’s on Instagram. I go on my Instagram and it’s straight down the timeline. It’s just like, ‘This can’t be real’. I was in denial for about a few hours”.
Myles Garrett had been the face of the Browns’ franchise for the better part of a decade, in between trade requests. But they realized they were no closer to being in contention and finally accepted an offer for him. Along with Verse, they received a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second, and a 2029 third—with the condition that if the Rams trade Garrett back to the Browns’ division, it turns into a first-round pick instead.
Suffice it to say that after the Myles Garrett trade, the Browns’ edge rusher group led by Alex Wright and Jared Verse is looking less formidable. While they have a strong interior, Garrett was clearly the straw that stirred the drink. But that straw didn’t want to be there anymore, whether he requested a trade again or not.
The defense has kept the Browns competitive, when they were competitive, in games for most of the time in recent years. Rarely have they had an offense upon which they could rely—and they still don’t. perhaps they realize that until they have an offense worth supporting, having a malcontent Myles Garrett and his big fat contract just isn’t worth the ticket sales.
Not that Jared Verse is a bad player, by any means. While his two Pro Bowls may be generous, he has produced early in his career and is clearly on an upward trajectory. In 2024, the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winner recorded 66 tackles, 11 for loss, with 4.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Last year, Garrett’s new replacement and Wright’s new tandem partner had a similar impact. He recorded another 11 tackles for loss, growing his sack total to 7.5 and forcing 3 fumbles.
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