Browns GM Makes Surprising Myles Garrett Revelation After Trade Deadline

The Cleveland Browns are entering the second half of the season with a 2-7 record. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong this season as the front office understandably pulled the plug on their season and traded Amari Cooper and Za'Darius Smith before the November 5 deadline.

With their bye week giving them a chance to re-evaluate their roster and think about the future of the franchise, the Browns GM Andrew Berry addressed the team's deadline activity. One fascinating revelation was that he said the front office never considered trading star defender Myles Garrett. When asked about it directly, Berry gave a short, two-letter answer.

Browns News: Cleveland Never Considered Trading Myles Garrett at the Deadline

On paper, this makes sense. Garrett has been Cleveland's best player ever since he stepped into the league with the 2017 NFL Draft. Garrett is perhaps the best defender of his generation and any team wanting to keep him around is more than understandable.

At the same time, the Browns would be foolish not to even consider moving him. Garrett had signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension back in 2020 when he still had two years left on his rookie deal. The star defender has two more years on his deal after this one, with non-guaranteed salaries of $19.8 million and $25 million, respectively. They could get an absolute haul for the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year if they wanted to.

Considering how far the Browns are from being Super Bowl contenders, moving on from your star defender in his prime in exchange for blue-chip draft assets makes sense, rather than giving him another massive contract when he is in his 30s.

Cleveland could have gotten at least one first-round pick, potentially two, with additional early-round draft capital. That would help them kickstart their rebuild and put them in a solid position for the future. As intriguing as that sounds, one can't blame anyone for hesitating to move on from a player of Garrett's caliber.

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