NFL
Myles Garrett’s Browns Contract Tweaks Spark Trade Speculation
published: 03-30-2026
Last updated: 03-30-2026
Cleveland Browns v Las Vegas Raiders by Ian Maule | Getty Images
Browns superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett reversed course on a trade demand a year ago, only to end up signing a massive extension with the team.
Executives around the league have long wondered if the future Hall of Famer would finish his career in Cleveland, and a recent alteration to his contract has some buzzing about that possibility again.
Garrett’s contract is somewhat complicated, and includes bonuses each year. And while it’s not uncommon for teams and players to tweak these deals even within a year of agreeing to them, the Browns recent reworking of this contract language stuck several contract negotiators as odd.
Garrett’s cashflow wasn’t really impacted, but the Browns did move back the dates of his option payments from within 15 days of the start of the league year to now much closer to the start of the regular season in September.
What exactly did the Browns accomplish here?
As to what Garrett gains from the alterations to his deal: “Nothing, really… unless he wanted to make it easier to get out of there,” said one top agent who reviewed the alterations.
And from a team standpoint, the contract is a bit more streamlined now and team-friendly, but the fact that Cleveland didn’t have to sweeten the pot at all to do so struck some around the league as strange. And the Browns are also championing a potential NFL rule change, ahead of the upcoming League Meetings, allowing teams to have the right to trade draft picks into future drafts beyond the current limitations.
In terms of immediate fallout, there wasn’t any we could detect.
Conversations with executives from multiple competitive teams that would normally have interest in a player of this stature produced nothing.
“It’s not like they did this and started shopping him,” said one potentially interested GM.
“In the past they haven’t seemed interested at all in moving him, but maybe at some point in the next six-to-12 months they change their mind about that. I guess that could be what this is all about.”
The Browns, with a new head coach and questions throughout their roster, are not going to be competitive in 2026. And it’s highly unlikely that changes in 2027, either.
Garrett maintained a year ago, before rescinding the trade demand, that he was driven to play for a winner as soon as possible. Maybe he still gets his wish.
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.