The Cleveland Browns will have one of the biggest decisions of the NFL offseason on their hands over the coming months as they deal with the fallout of franchise icon Myles Garrett's trade request.
The opportunity for a blockbuster trade going down on a generational pass rusher doesn't happen often, but the Browns may have their hand forced in doing so as Garrett has made his stance clear –– he wants out, and he wants to win championships.
But what if the Browns decided to take a different approach? That being holding onto their chips and not dealing Garrett away this offseason.
In the eyes of ESPN's Aaron Schatz, that's how he sees the situation between Garrett and the Browns shaking out. Rather than shipping the star pass rusher out, Cleveland could opt to deny his trade request and keep him in the building for the time being.
"Trading Garrett would leave the Browns with at least $36 million in dead money and a loss of $16.5 million in cap space," Schatz said. "Could Garrett hold out? Perhaps, but he's not going to miss the entire season because he wants his contract to roll a year. The Browns maybe could make nice and convince him they're trying to win and he shouldn't hold out. Or, they could just deal with only having him for half the year. The picks they would obtain in a Garrett trade might not be worth the salary cap problems that trade would create plus the loss of Garrett's great play on the field."
Any package for the Browns to relinquish Garrett would have to take an extensive haul to make the decision worthwhile from Cleveland's perspective, both from a financial lens and a team-building one.
If there isn't a deal on the table that makes sense, perhaps the opportunity arises for the star edge rusher to stay in-house instead.
It would be far from Garrett's preference to remain in the same place he just asked out of. However, the Browns can't afford to forfeit their best player, and even one of their best across franchise history, if it doesn't make logical sense to do so.
Maybe the Browns could get a post-June 1st designation for a deal to lessen the financial burden while also getting a strong package in return from an opposing team for Garrett's services. Yet, if both aren't able to come to form, Cleveland may have to think a bit harder about their superstar's trade request.
