The Cleveland Browns reworked Myles Garrett’s contract on Wednesday in a curious move that could be a simple cap rework, but might also signify a blockbuster trade coming down the pipeline. It’s speculation season, and the truth is that when one of the league’s best players gets a contract rework a month before the NFL Draft there’s reason to begin some discussion.
Garrett will now wait until right before the season begins to receive his $16.5M option bonus, which critically pushes it past the June 1 deadline, allowing other teams to have enough open cap space to sign him while getting the Browns off the hook to pony up the cash. In addition, the way the deal was reworked gives added cap flexibility later in the deal, which would be a necessity to a team taking on Garrett in a trade.
It’s entirely possible this is just routine bookkeeping, but the timing really is curious. Free agency is effectively over at this point, and the Browns had $9M in effective cap space left. They didn’t need to tinker with the Garrett deal at all — and in doing so it definitely raises questions about whether or not the team might be looking to trade him, especially after Cleveland were the team to float an NFL rule change to allow for five years of draft picks to be traded (up from three).
Let’s assume this is part of a bigger plan to find a new home for Myles Garrett: Which teams should we really watch? Keep in mind that Garrett has a no-trade clause on his deal, so a trade scenario would need to involve a contender. Luckily there are a few teams that fit the bill.
The Rams don’t need a pass rusher with Jared Verse and Byron Young locked in as their edge rushers in 2026 — but this is a team always looking to make upgrades, especially right now. There’s a tacit understanding from Los Angeles that their window to win a Super Bowl is open until Matthew Stafford retires, and they might only have a couple of bites left of the apple.
There’s a very real scenario where the Rams could choose to ignore the need for another major corner across from Trent McDuffie, and instead overload on pass rush. This might push Verse back into a rotational pass rush role, which would be fine in the short term if it means hoisting the Lombadi, which the Rams would be the favorites to do with Garrett on the roster.
Add in the little wrinkle that Garrett is in a relationship with L.A. native Chloe Kim, and it definitely raises some eyebrows.
We know the Eagles need more pass-rush help after losing Jaelan Phillips in free agency and they have wiggle room on the cap, especially after June 1 if they trade away A.J. Brown.
Fans in Philly has been hoping to see the team in on a possible Maxx Crosby deal, so why not go after an even bigger prize? The Eagles are a team that don’t really need their draft picks to stay successful after years of solid drafting, meaning they have the luxury to try and pull off a huge deal like this.
Adding Garrett to the Eagles effectively says “goodnight” to the rest of the NFC East. It would cause the Giants and Commanders to quake in their boots playing young quarterbacks who have injury concerns against the league’s most dominant, violent pass rusher — and it would immediately put Philly back in the NFC Championship conversation after seeing the conference dominated by the NFC West in 2025.
This would just be unfair, but we would have to mention the Seahawks here. Right now they have over $30M in effective cap space for the upcoming season, as well as numerous contracts which could easily open more more space if needed as June 1 designations. Not only are the Super Bowl champions loaded, they’re set for the future too.
Edge rusher remains a place where the ‘Hawks need to make a big-time upgrade, with most mock drafts projecting a pass rusher to them with the No. 32 pick. Why roll the dice when you can safely land the best defensive player in the league, give Mike Macdonald a terrifying weapon for his defense, and essentially lock down their No. 1 spot in the NFC to force everyone else in football to play catch-up?
This is such a terrifying scenario that I honestly don’t know how the league would handle Seattle if this came to pass.
Sure, why don’t we throw in the other Super Bowl team from a year ago, because they’re in a similar spot to the Seahawks — just without the hardware. New England also has over $30M in effective cap space and a significant need for an edge rusher. In addition, the long-term goal in the AFC East is to hold off the Bills, and getting an athletic rusher who can take down Josh Allen helps achieve that goal.
While the Pats have less proven success than the other teams on this list, they still have a lot going for them in terms of being an attractive destination for Garett after wasting his career in Cleveland up to this point.
