Factors at play in CLE's decision to trade Garrett
Chris Simms and Mike Florio evaluate all of the factors at play in the Cleveland Browns' decision to trade Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams of all teams.
Video Transcript
Another point, and I keep thinking about this to explain why the Browns wouldn't do it a year ago.
A year ago, they were still trying to get a new stadium- Huh financed.
Yeah.
And they broke ground late 2025, early '26.
They did a deal, I think it was around November or December of 2025.
I don't think it's foolish to wonder whether or not they kept Myles Garrett because they didn't wanna piss off the fan base in a year that they're, they're holding out their hand for a big old pile of public money.
After you get the commitment and you break ground and you know you're getting a stadium, if the fans don't like it, no consequence.
Yeah.
They're still gonna show up- Yeah to the games.
But it may have been harder to get whatever the public contribution is if everybody was pissed off that they traded Myles Garrett.
I don't know.
I keep thinking about that 'cause it's the one, it's the one big change.
Yeah.
So Garrett, I don't Garrett.
Yeah.
Yep, so I- I guess my, I guess my sound is out now.
Your sound's been going on in and out.
My sound's going.
It's been a little bit in and out, so yeah, I d- that's why I missed you in a few of the things you said there.
But I think what, but what I heard what you said, and, and I understand what you're saying there about Myles Garrett.
I, I don't doubt that, that Cleveland maybe was, you know, yeah, waiting, didn't wanna do anything drastic with their football team or a guy like Myles Garrett while they're, while they're in pen- or, you know, waiting for this whole stadium thing.
I, I, I, I don't doubt that, Mike.
I think there's probably some logic to that, for sure.
I hear you there.
And also on top of that of, you know, just did they ever get the offer that made sense, right?
To where, you know Again, we know, we see posturing all the time when the season's over.
"Oh, we're never gonna trade him.
We're never gonna trade him."
Right?
And maybe they don't think they'll ever get the offer that, that they really want for that caliber of player, but they got it and they made the move.
But like, again, you know, yeah, you know, like you've said in calling the bullshit meter and, or let's throw the challenge flag.
I mean, you know, it's hard to believe Andrew Berry with, "Oh yeah, we were never gonna trade him.
We never thought we were gonna trade him," when Todd Monken makes a comment to go, "When I got hired, they told me it was no guarantee Myles Garrett would be here."
So I mean, th- obviously it was on their radar to a degree.
O- obviously they knew it was a possibility, and that's where, you know, again, like you always say, we gotta take this with a grain of salt sometimes with what coaches and GMs saying because they're, they're working a business that's, that's personal to their life, and they're not gonna let us know all the, all the details of what's going on behind the scenes.
And they gotta, you know, make it look like one thing so they can get another.
I thought of something as you were saying what you said, and I hope my microphone has been fixed because I think this is significant.
Yeah.
Hadn't thought of this in the past two days.
You mentioned you get an offer ultimately that you just have to take, right?
Yeah.
You can't write it off.
You never know what the offer's gonna be.
You gotta listen.
You gotta listen.
Very rarely do you hang up the phone.
And you mentioned that they told Todd Monken that there's no guarantee that Myles Garrett's gonna be there when he got hired, and Monken had said that publicly on the same morning that they were finalizing this deal.
Right.
Remember what came out earlier this year?
Remember what the Browns' big proposal was this year?
Remember what it was?
The big rules change proposal?
Oh, the, the, the future picks.
Oh, draft picks?
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
Five years- Right instead of three.
Right.
Yeah.
And who was their big supporter?
Who was their big supporter?
Who came out in favor of that?
It was Was it the Rams?
The Rams did.
It was the Rams.
Holy cow.
Yeah.
That's, that's hilarious.
That's hilarious.
I just wonder- Yeah if they had a deal that they were contemplating that would have gone out that far.
Yeah, yeah.
'Cause why would the Browns propose it?
And why would the Rams be pushing it as aggressive as they were?
Kevin Demoff, the president of the Rams, was pushing it on social media.
They were trying their damnedest to get this thing through, and it just makes me wonder, had they considered some sort of a thing where there were gonna be draft picks to get this deal done beyond 2029?
They took it right up to the limit, 27, 28, 29.
You can't go beyond 29.
If they had gotten that proposal passed, would the Myles Garrett trade that was done on Monday, had to be done on Monday because of the whole salary cap thing, would there have been 20, 30, 20, 31 picks?
I'm a firm believer the teams should be allowed to do it, and if my hunch here is correct, you had two teams that were willing to do it.
The Rams willing to make the commitment beyond 2029, and the Browns willing to take the picks beyond 2029.
And, hadn't thought of that, hadn't thought of that, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the two teams at the forefront were the team that did this major trade that goes three years out with the draft picks.
It, it is interesting, and yeah, yeah, you're right.
It, it, it makes me wonder, too.
And it, it is hard to, you know, believe that's just coincidence after, you know, seeing what just went down the other day.
So, we'll, we'll, we'll see.
But you're right.
That's something.
Maybe somebody out there and then one of the beat writers can ask them about that a little bit and see if they can connect some dots that way.
I, I have a hard time believing, like, this just came out of nowhere, right?
You know.
The Rams have shown an ability to get into these type of conversations with teams and keep it lock, stock, and two smoking barrels to where nobody knows, right?
You know, that was the complaint I heard from people, everybody in the NFL with the Matthew Stafford when they traded for him.
Everybody found out a little too late that he might be available.
The Rams were already, like, you know, going through the deal and, and the details of the trade, where everybody was like, "Hey, wait.
We, we like Matt Stafford.
We'll trade something for him."
And it was like, "Oh, no, too late.
We've already got it going."
I mean, so they've been good at that.
And yeah, I, I'd wonder that, too, Mike.
It's a very interesting pointUm, here is a little bit 'Cause I, I had a thought as you were saying that, and now it's disappeared.
and I hate when that happens- Well, you're a little old 'cause it makes me think.
Ah, yeah, you're 61.
Sometimes you forget stuff.
Not yet.
Hell, yeah.
Sorry.
Not yet.
Getting close.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
I still have five days.
Yeah, that's right.
Get your facts straight.
Get your facts straight.
Here's Andrew Berry, the GM of the Browns, on the addition of Jared Verse, the first-round pick from 2024, who was also the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
He's, obviously a huge part of this return for us.
you know, Jared is an outstanding football player.
former Defensive Rookie of the Year, two-time original ballot Pro Bowler.
he's a perfect DNA match for our attacking front.
he's really a terror in both phasors, ph- excuse me, both phases, both as a, you know, run defender and a pass rusher.
And we are really, really excited to add him to our team.
he allows us to continue to play defense as a high level, which has been our standard over the past several seasons.
and we're really excited to, to welcome him into the organization.
Yeah.
I Well, you, you see it there.
And, see, that explains what we're talking about with Jared Verse, too, you know, Mike.
I mean, Jared Verse is, is, yeah, maybe never gonna be, maybe never gonna be the pass rusher that, that Myles Garrett is going to be.
But this is still a phenomenal football player, and a phenomenal leader on top of that, and a guy that you want kinda leading your defense as you go forward here.
Yeah, I don't know if Jared Verse will ever get 16, 17 sacks a year, but I think he'll always be flirting around eight to 14, somewhere in that range in a given year.
And then like you heard Andrew Berry say, and, and what I kind of alluded to in the first segment, is it's more than just the pass rushing here with Jared Verse.
He's phenomenal in the run game.
So he's phenomenal football player.
You're not gonna, you're not gonna have to adjust your defense just to go, "Oh, well, he's a good pass rusher.
He doesn't play the run, so let's make sure we get a linebacker back here to help him and the run fit, and we gotta organize around that."
So he is a, he is awesome that way, and that's where they're gonna welcome him.
And it's a, it's a new era there in Cleveland.
No Jim Schwartz on the defensive side.
Todd Monken running the offense.
Got a lot of young guys that are damn good on their football team, that you look at and go, "Ooh, they got potential here."
And now hopefully they can start to coach them up and really start to build something and get some confidence going in the organization
