Cleveland Browns’ All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett formally requested a trade today from his organization. This is not a surprise and has been rumored to happen since the middle part of the 2024 season. Garrett, through his agent, released the following statement.
Breaking: Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and #Browns star Myles Garrett has requested a trade.
Exclusive statement: pic.twitter.com/LgS5YCeCnP
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 3, 2025
Look, I can’t blame Garrett. The Browns have hitched themselves to a QB that likely won’t play in 2025 and has been nothing short of an embarrassment to the city and organization. They are once again headed back to a ‘re-building’ phase and Garrett wants no part of that. As he said, he wants to win Super Bowls rather than being able to say he played in the same city his entire career.
And that’s where Trent Jordan Watt comes in. The Pittsburgh Steelers all-time sack leader and perennial all-pro has never won a postseason game. Frankly, he hasn’t been close. While Watt has consistently pledged that he wants to stay in Pittsburgh I cannot help but wonder if he doesn’t find himself thinking as Garrett does.
At 30 years of age (he’ll turn 31 in October), Watt enters a point of real uncertainty. He’s likely going to get a big contract re-structure so as to lower his salary cap hit and there’s no question he’s deserving. But he has to see the writing on the wall too doesn’t he? His own franchise is in a state of flux. The quarterback of the future is nowhere to be seen, the skill positions are a mess and the offensive line is nowhere close to where it needs to be.
The very unit he plays on was wrecked the final five games of the season and there’s no doubt that there was dissension within the group. With his window on a Super Bowl, let alone a postseason win closing, would he and the Steelers entertain a move similar to what Garrett is seeking?
The money side of things is also where things get interesting. Garrett is due to count $19.7 million against the Browns’ cap in 2025. If they cut or trade him prior to June 1st however, there would be a dead money hit of roughly $36 million. The Browns have already said this afternoon that they have no interest in trading Garrett. This will be ‘must-see’ stuff for the next several months.
In terms of T.J. Watt, one of the things that holds the Steelers back here is tradition. They like their greats to play their entire careers in the Steel City even if they are in decline. Frankly, that’s where the Steelers’ way of thinking has to evolve. I do not, and I stress I DO NOT want the Steelers to trade T.J. Watt, but I can see why they would or even should.
While it isn’t certain what the Steelers could get in return for trading Watt, there’s no reason to believe they couldn’t obtain a number of day two and three selections at a minimum. With next year’s quarterback class expected to be much better than this year’s, those picks could be used to move up and get one of the top passers. With the NFL Draft scheduled for Pittsburgh in 2026, what a move that would be!
The only way this truly happens is with the blessing of T.J. Watt. He has to decide what is more important to him. Does he want a chance to win postseason games and get to a Super Bowl or does he want to be one of the rare guys who plays his entire career in one city?
