There’s a perfect explanation for trading away Myles Garrett, pretty much the closest thing to Reggie White in today’s NFL: The Cleveland Browns are nuts.
So what, that the Browns got a serious rising star in Jared Verse and three draft picks – including a first-rounder in 2027 – from the L.A. Rams in return.
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Is that all?
The blockbuster last summer that sent Micah Parsons from the Cowboys to the Packers, people, was supposed to represent the market floor. Dallas got two first-round picks and D-tackle Kenny Clark in sending Micah packing.
Compared to that deal, the Browns hardly got enough for Myles, who routinely drew triple-teams and still set the NFL single-season record in 2025 with 23 sacks and won his second Defensive Player of the Year award in three years. I mean, start the bidding at three No. 1’s. Plus Verse.
And remember, those draft picks have to become draft hits. And with the Rams undeniably in a championship mix, the most premium pick figures to be way at the bottom of the first round.
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Yet the bombshell on Monday underscores exactly why one team, the Rams, has been hunting for Super Bowl crowns for the better part of a decade and the other one hasn’t sniffed a championship in several decades. The Browns, who last won an NFL crown with Jim Brown in 1964, are one of four teams that have never played in a single Super Bowl.
In a weird way, that made Cleveland the perfect suckers – uh, trade partner – for L.A.
Yep, the Rams are “all-in” to host another Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium, and the already buffed bid just got a whole lot stronger with Garrett, 30, as new centerpiece of the defense. Somewhere, Deacon Jones (RIP), the Rams legend of “Fearsome Foursome” fame who coined the term “sack” is giving some poor sap a head slap.
Rams swing for the fences, Browns do the opposite
This is how the Rams do it with their aggressive GM Les Snead and creatively hyped coach Sean McVay. They push the envelope, swing for the fences, shoot for the moon.
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The Browns, meanwhile, always seem to be on the verge of ABC: Another Bad Creation.
This is the dysfunctional franchise that kicked Baker Mayfield to the curb and traded for Deshaun Watson and gave him a fully guaranteed contract – despite the PR minefield that involved allegations of sexual misconduct by two dozen massage therapists. It’s the franchise that drafted “Johnny Football” Manziel (and before that in the same first round, cornerback bust Justin Gilbert), and way back in 1999 picked Tim Couch over Donovan McNabb.
One year, the Browns passed on drafting Julio Jones with the sixth pick overall and traded down for a package of picks that produced nothing special while the receiver went on the produce a Hall of Fame resume. The franchise also served up since-departed chief strategy office, Paul DePodesta, whose “Moneyball” concepts from his Oakland A’s days didn’t quite cut it in the NFL.
And now they’ve traded away a generational talent that they had the good fortune of drafting No. 1 overall in 2017. Stockpiling for the future provides options, but no guarantees.
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Browns history of gloom continues
So, if you’re wondering why Jimmy and Dee Haslam are probably among the most heavily criticized owners in the NFL, there are the results. Zero division titles. A 5-12 finish in 2025. A revolving door of GMs, HCs and QBs.
Sure, they’ve tried it a lot of different ways. Todd Monken is the 11th head coach (excluding interims) since the franchise was reborn as an expansion team in 1999, and last season Shedeur Sanders became the 41st quarterback to start for the so-called “Brownies” during that span.
On top of all the coaches, including one-and-done stints from Freddie Kitchens and Rod Cudzinski, and Hue Jackson’s 3-36-1 disaster, the Browns have had 10 GMs since the 1999 reboot, including one, Ray Farmer, who violated NFL rules by sending text messages to the sideline from the press box, Ray Farmer and is now, incidentally, a personnel exec with the Rams.
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Of course, you can’t put the Browns’ long history of gloom on Monken, and only so much has come under GM Andrew Berry’s watch.
Still, it’s the Browns. It’s no wonder that Garrett came out last year and went public with a trade demand, selling it as a championship mission. The Browns responded by signing Garrett to a 4-year, $160 million extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Money talks. Or lowers the volume.
While Garrett had another monster season to go with the fat contract, that championship chase was certainly on hold – until now. Berry has always maintained that he saw Garrett as a Browns lifer, but that’s out the window now.
More: Why the Browns traded Myles Garrett after once being adamantly against it
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History not on Browns side
That the Browns reportedly restructured the payouts of the option bonuses of Garrett’s contract, allowing the $41 million in dead money to be spread over two years, was apparently the type of tweak that would facilitate a trade. And taking his $40-mil-per-year off the books looks good on paper, too.
Maybe that seems sensible for a chapter in some “NFL Moneyball” book, where the equations can be highlighted by color-coded graphs. It’s just that some things about the NFL’s best defensive end that cannot easily translate on paper with analytics.
Sure, barring divine intervention, the Browns won’t be in the Super Bowl running this season. They’ve got more ammo to use in the future, and with so many wanting to dismiss Sanders for the role, maybe they’ll pursue another “franchise quarterback.”
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Blah, blah, blah. We’ll see.
The Browns have drafted well recently, including the second-round selection last year of linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Yet to win this deal, the Browns need a few more 10’s on the picks they’ve just received, while Verse fulfills his potential and becomes one of the NFL’s best edge rushers.
Yes, it’s possible. But these are the Browns. History is not on their side.
Garrett is gone, igniting his championship mission on a new team built for winning big. Too bad he can’t take the Browns’ misery with him.
Contact Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Browns were nuts to trade Myles Garrett, the latest in decades of bad moves
