Myles Garrett's brilliance clashes with the Cleveland Browns' offensive struggles, but trading him now, after signing an extension, is an error Andrew Berry simply can't afford to own up to
The one week of the season without Cleveland Browns football has been riddled with swirling rumors of potential trades.
Trades involving David Njoku. Trades involving one of the team's rookie quarterbacks. Most notably, though, trades involving star pass rusher Myles Garrett.
On the heels of a remarkable, five sack performance in New England last weekend, Garrett reminded everyone why he's a living example of the Bugatti in the trailer park meme. He remains brilliant in the prime of his career, while the Browns pathetic offense continually lets him and the defense down.
Under those circumstances, it's fair to speculate about whether or not Garrett would simply want out all on his own. Or if the Browns would come to their senses and simply trade Garrett to maximize their draft capital and embrace the fact that they're a re-building team.
To be honest, that's at the root of why Garrett can't be traded now. Executive vice president of football operations Andrew Berry never fully embraced the current state of his roster. Instead of stripping it down to the studs and building it from the ground up, Berry and company have tried to thread the needle on remaining competitive while retooling the roster.
In some respects, it's worked. Berry knocked his 2025 rookie draft class out of the park, adding at least four players who look like they'll be building blocks for the future. The results on the field, however, tell a much different story about the state of the Browns, particularly on offense.
If Berry wasn't going to lean into a full-fledged rebuild back in March during the heat of the offseason, with Garrett going public with a trade request, why would he lean into eight months later, after standing his ground and doling out a four-year, $160 million extension to him that at the time made him the highest paid non-quarterback in football?
Trading the 2023 defensive player of the year now would basically be an admission that he should have traded him back then. Not to mention, trading him now would also come with some substantial dead cap penalties for the Browns as well.
It just doesn't make sense, unless that mysterious offer from the Philadelphia Eagles that apparently includes three first-round picks is real (I have my doubts). It would take that type of God father offer to make the move feel sensible at this point.
Berry can't conceded that he screwed up by not trading Garrett back then. Not while he's forever linked to what most consider worst trade in NFL history. Which raises another point regarding Berry's legacy as a GM right now.
Part of the reason his stance on retaining Garrett was so firm during the offseason is that trading the second best (or best depending on who you ask) player in franchise history is simply not a smart business decision. It doesn't take a football analytical genius to know that.
The Browns may be an absolute mess in the aftermath of the Deshaun Watson trade, but at least they have Garrett to sell to fans and produce historic moments, like he did in New England, on any given week.
Garrett remains one of the only holdover from the last Browns rebuild, that saw the tam go 1-31 over two seasons in the name of stockpiling picks and rebuilding the roster through the draft. Berry was handed the keys to that Bugatti in 2020, boasting a roster that included Denzel Ward, David Njoku, Nick Chubb and (brace yourself) Baker Mayfield. All players who were top end picks expected to usher in a new era of Browns football.
There's something finite about trading Garrett and closing the door on that era with nothing but two playoff appearances and one playoff win to show for it. The word "wasted" comes to mind. Again, Berry can't invite anymore bad PR right now. He's got enough of that, and may be running out of time to overcome it.
And that's why trading Garrett was simply never going to happen. Playing couch GM was certainly fun for a few days. But you can put down the PS5 controller now. Garrett will still be a Cleveland Brown by 4 p.m. Tuesday.