In a somewhat predictable development, Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett publically demanded a trade a couple of weeks ago.
There’s little question that Myles Garrett is the best pass rusher in the NFL today. Perhaps he is the NFL’s best defender. It’s also hard to argue that Garrett’s talents have been wasted in his eight seasons with the Cleveland Browns. The team didn’t even win a game his first season, which somehow was only one less win than they had the year before. Cleveland then improved to seven wins in Garrett’s second season but passed on retaining interim head coach Gregg Williams in favor of interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens. Kitchens was a disaster, and by the time Kevin Stefanski got the top job, he was the fourth head coach in Garrett’s young career.
But the leadership carousel didn’t stop there. Like most of the Cleveland Browns defense, Myles Garrett saw his talents underutilized in defensive coordinator Joe Woods’ vanilla defense. He finally got the defensive coordinator of his dreams in the ultra-aggressive, old-school Jim Schwartz. But, of course, the other side of the ball went through woes of its own in the form of DeShaun Watson.
The Demise of DeShaun
Watson, who was supposed to stabilize the revolving door… no, the conveyor belt… in the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks room, has instead become an albatross around Cleveland’s collective neck. In 2024, the Cleveland Browns were so overly invested in Watson that they recreated the entire offense to his specifications. Yet, somehow, that experiment made Watson worse. Everyone else in Berea seemed to understand that Cleveland’s 2024 season was lost before the team even took the field for the first time in the preseason.
Now, the Cleveland Browns are on their third offensive coordinator in three years. They have no quarterback. Even if they wanted to play Watson – and there’s no way that they do – he is likely out for the entire 2025 season after tearing his Achilles tendon twice in two months. Yet, Cleveland owes him somewhere around $170 million that hovers over the Browns salary cap.
The situation does not look good.
How Bad Is It… Really?
Myles Garrett, who is about to be on the wrong side of 30, isn’t stupid. In his eight seasons, he can count on a single finger the number of times that the Cleveland Browns have retained their starting quarterback, head coach, and both coordinators from one season to the next. 2025 will not be any different, and the team is coming off a 3-14 season with a historically bad offense. With Garrett probably on the downside of his career, he obviously wants to chase that ever-elusive Super Bowl ring while he’s still in his prime.
But can he be convinced that the Cleveland Browns still have a chance?
It’s possible.
Breaking it Down
Starting with the offense, Cleveland will be returning to the gunslinging play-action style of offense that better fits Stefanski’s style. The run-blocking schemes that were favored by the Brown’s veteran offensive linemen seem to favor. At quarterback, Cleveland should have a decent shot at acquiring quarterback Kirk Cousins, who flourished in Stefanski’s scheme in Minnesota. Cousins could be a rare get for Cleveland, as the bulk of his salary will be paid by the Atlanta Falcons, who are expected to release the veteran in the coming weeks. That would allow the team to play with an experienced signal caller for veteran minimum… which is good because Watson’s contract doesn’t allow the team a lot of wiggle room. They also have a full collection of draft picks for the first time since 2021. While the incoming draft class looks like it’s missing a sure-fire signal caller, there are some solid developmental prospects who could benefit from a year or two on the bench behind someone like Cousins.
On defense, the Browns are expected to return the bulk of the squad who finished near the top of the league in most statistical categories in 2023. They have yet to solidify a centerfield-style free safety – and incumbent Juan Thornhill will almost certainly be released – but the backbone of the unit is solid.
Assuming, of course, that Myles Garrett is back on the field in 2025.
The Roster is Talented, But Aging
The Cleveland Browns are a team that has been expected to compete for a Super Bowl in the last few seasons. They’ve been keeping the window open for as long as possible by deferring expensive player salaries into future years. That allows the team to make short-term gains in the salary cap at the expense of future seasons. But it only works as long as the expensive player remains on the roster.
This is the vision that Myles Garrett sees – an aging roster, impending salary cap armageddon, a revolving door in virtually all leadership positions… and all of this while coming off a lost 2024 season.
But the team remains talented and seems ready to move on from the failed Watson experiment, while still retaining the bulk of its talented roster. So, maybe, Myles Garrett can still be persuaded to give it another year.
Maybe.
