Are the Cleveland Browns about to trade Myles Garrett?
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Cleveland Browns have restructured Myles Garrett's contract.
Does that mean a blockbuster trade is about to go down? According to Adam Schefter, the answer is no.
The Browns amended Garrett's deal to push back the execution date for option bonuses in 2026, 2027 and 2028 to seven days before the start of the regular season. He added that the payment of the option bonuses was also modified to benefit Garrett in some way.
Initially, Garrett's contract previously called for his option bonuses in 2026, 2027 and 2028 to take effect 15 days into the new league year, which was today for the 2026 bonus.
Garrett also had $8 million of his base salary in 2029 and 2030 converted into separate roster bonuses that would be exercised early on in those respective league years.
What's notable from these adjustments is that it delays some major chunks of money due to Garrett, which would have accelerated onto their cap as dead money until much later in each of those years.
These changes don't create any additional cap space in 2026. The flexibility it does create really benefits the Browns above all else, and by moving that money around, it creates an avenue where they could theoretically trade Garrett with a much less intrusive financial burden.
The Browns went 5-12 last season despite Garrett breaking the single-season sack record. Garrett had 23.0 sacks, 43 solo tackles, 33 tackles for loss and 39 QB hits this season.
Since entering the NFL in 2017, Garrett has racked up 125.5 sacks. He deserves to play for a winning franchise and the Browns are not close to earning that title.
Garrett requested a trade from the Browns last February. One month later, Cleveland signed the defensive end to a four-year extension averaging $40 million per year and including $123 million in guaranteed money.
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