Myles Garrett requests trade: Logical landing spots for Browns star pass rusher, including Lions, Patriots

Myles Garrett has requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns. The star pass rusher announced his request in a statement on Monday, acknowledging his admiration for Cleveland but emphasizing his desire to win a Super Bowl.

“As a kid dreaming of the NFL, all I focused on was the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl — and that goal fuels me today more than ever,” Garrett said in a statement, via NFL.com. “My love for the community of Northeast Ohio and the incredible fanbase of the Cleveland Browns has made this one of the toughest decisions of my life. These past eight years have shaped me into the man that I am today.

“While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.

“With that in mind, I have requested to be traded from the Cleveland Browns.”

Garrett, 29, has been with the organization since the Browns drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. Since his arrival into the league, Garrett has gone on to be one of the top defensive players in the entire league, which includes an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award during the 2023 season. 

The six-time All-Pro (two Second Team) has tallied seven consecutive seasons with double-digit sacks and has topped at least 14 sacks in each of the last four years. In 17 games played this season, Garrett totaled 14 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, three forced fumbles and a league-leading 22 tackles for loss. 

With this request now public, it will be fascinating to see how the Browns operate. Just a few weeks ago, general manager Andrew Berry was asked directly about the possibility of trading Garrett, who is currently under contract through the 2026 season. To that speculation, Berry said that he wouldn’t trade Garrett for two first-round picks, illustrating his lack of desire to move him. Now that the formal request is out there, however, it’ll be interesting to see how that changes. 

As for where Garrett could end up, let’s highlight a few potential landing spots.

Even with Aidan Hutchinson set to return in 2025 following a season-ending leg injury this past season, the Detroit Lions need some added game-breaking ability at pass rusher, ranking bottom third in the NFL in sacks in 2024. From a financial standpoint, Garrett’s current contract is paying him a base salary of just $1.25 million and $1.3 million over the next two seasons and carries a cap hit of $19.7 million and $20.3 million, which should be relatively easy to absorb for clubs, including Detroit. The Lions have about $46.5 million in available space this offseason.

The club is also firmly within a Super Bowl window after earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season, which would give Garrett a strong opportunity to compete for a title and play in meaningful games late in the year. 

The Commanders have found their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels, who just led the club to an NFC Championship appearance. While Daniels is playing out his rookie contract, it’d be wise for Washington to capitalize on that QB discount by adding elite talent to other areas of the roster, which includes the defensive line. The Commanders have the third-most amount of cap space this offseason ($78.1 million), so they could easily afford to bring Garrett aboard and ink him to a new deal. He’d also seem to blend well with Dan Quinn’s defense. This season, Washington ranked 14th in the league in pressure rate, so adding Garrett would vault that defense up inside the top 10 thus making the Commanders even more dangerous in Year 2 of the Daniels era. 

The pairing of Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby would be the most lethal pass-rushing duo in the NFL. The Las Vegas Raiders are entering a new era after hiring Pete Carroll as head coach and have the second-highest amount of cap space ($92.5 million) in the league to reboot in a hurry. While playing alongside Crosby would be tantalizing, the main concern for Garrett would likely be Las Vegas’ current quarterback situation, which is to say they don’t have a clear answer at the position at the moment. If they can land a respectable signal-caller, that would certainly make them an even more desirable destination.

Would the Browns really trade Garrett inside the division? I have my doubts, but if you’re the Bengals you absolutely make the phone call. They have the ninth-most cap space in the NFL, so they could afford to bring Garrett aboard. More importantly, Cincinnati needs a talent like Garrett to help get the franchise back on track. Despite explosive seasons from Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase offensively, the Bengals defense left little to be desired outside of Trey Hendrickson. They ranked 25th in total yards allowed per game (348.3) and points per game (25.5). Adding Garrett to combat quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen would do wonders in the Bengals possibly getting over the hump. Meanwhile, this would arguably be one of the top destinations for Garrett when factoring in his desire to win a Super Bowl. 

Some interesting connections between the Patriots and Browns could make New England a dark horse here. Of course, new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel just spent the 2024 season with the Browns as a coaching and personnel consultant, so Garrett and the front office should have some familiarity with him. Meanwhile, New England’s executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf was the Browns assistant GM back in 2018 when Berry was the vice president of player personnel, further establishing a relationship between the two franchises. 

The Patriots have by far the most amount of cap space in the NFL ($120 million) which would satisfy a potential Garrett extension, while also keeping the organization flexible enough to continue to add. Depending on how Garrett feels about rising second-year quarterback Drake Maye and the Patriots’ ability to increase the talent across the depth chart, New England could be primed to bounce back rather quickly under this new coach-quarterback regime, giving him a shot to play more meaningful games late in the year.