While Myles Garrett would like a trade from the Cleveland Browns, the structure of his contract makes it a difficult move for the team to make happen.
Given the bonus-laden structure of Garrett’s deal to create cap flexibility and keep his base value low, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year carries a heavy dead cap hit for the Browns to move him via the trade market, which they insist they are not interested in doing.
If the Browns were to trade Garrett before the 2025 NFL draft, which would be necessary for them to add capital, they would not only eat $36 million in dead cap, they would be penalized an additional $16 million. Nick Korte of Over the Cap (the most trusted site in terms of NFL salary cap figures and inner workings) broke it down:
“It’s going to be tricky for the Browns to be able to pull off a trade. They’re going to be about $38.6M over the cap, and trading Myles Garrett would add another $16.5M in dead cap dollars to that. They’d really have to go to the restructure well hard in order to pull it off.”
Korte assumes that the Browns would have to not only restructure Deshaun Watson’s contract again, but do the same with cornerback Denzel Ward, and still make a few cuts (he names offensive tackle Jack Conklin) just to make a trade work.
So, while Garrett wants out, he may have to wait until after June 1 to make that happen. And for the Browns, that may not be worth it with any added draft capital to help replace Garrett in the rearview mirror.
