The Browns may be staring at another rough season, but the Myles Garrett trade has given them something they haven’t had enough of lately: options.
Cleveland’s over-under sits at 6.5 wins for 2026, a mark that leaves the Browns 25th in a three-way tie with the Falcons and the Raiders. That’s not where anyone in Northeast Ohio wants to be, and it’s a long way from the kind of team Browns fans have been waiting for. Still, the organization’s decision to move Garrett could end up mattering far more than it feels right now.
On the surface, trading away the single greatest defender - and possibly player - in franchise history is the kind of move that lands like a punch to the gut. But the logic behind it is hard to ignore. Cleveland has essentially admitted it is not ready to contend in the present, and that has opened the door to a different kind of plan: stacking draft capital and widening the path to a future franchise quarterback.
That matters because the quarterback market could get crowded fast. In a realistic scenario, there could be as many as eight teams in dire need of a franchise quarterback in 2027, not even counting fringe teams or the annual surprise club that decides to move on from a veteran starter. When that many teams are hunting for the same prize, the smartest move is to give yourself more chances to win the race.
The Browns did exactly that in the deal, landing first-, second-, and third-round picks over the next three years along with budding star EDGE rusher Jared Verse. It’s the kind of haul that can reshape a roster, and ESPN’s Seth Walder made it clear he sees the move as a major win for Cleveland.
"It has been awfully bleak in Cleveland the past couple of seasons, but the decision to trade away a franchise icon could be what jump-starts a turnaround ... This was an unquestioned home run for Cleveland.
Garrett is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and just broke the single season sack record, but he is 30 years old, and the Browns are not close to contention. By the time they get there, Garrett will be well into his decline."
"Verse, who still has two years left on his rookie contract (plus a possible fifth-year option), will cost Cleveland just about $5 million over the next two seasons. He's a great, ascending player who would have surely been worth more than a first-round pick on the trade market, perhaps even approaching two first-rounders. To turn Garrett - whose superstardom was worth less to the woebegone Browns than to any contender - into Verse and picks that can help build the next good Cleveland roster is solid team-building."
Walder didn’t spell out the quarterback angle, but that part of the story is impossible to miss. General manager Andrew Berry has been navigating an offseason built around hedging bets, and this move makes that plain. The Browns are not all-in on a Shedeur Sanders breakout, and they are not banking on Deshaun Watson somehow flipping the space-time continuum on its head.
Instead, Cleveland has left itself room to keep both of those possibilities in play for 2026 while staying flexible enough to target a quarterback in 2027 if needed. And if the Browns don’t finish low enough to land the top pick on their own, the extra draft ammo from the Garrett trade puts them right behind the New York Jets among quarterback-needy teams in terms of draft capital.
For a franchise that hasn’t exactly made a habit of clean, forward-thinking decisions, that’s a notable shift. The immediate pain is real. So is the possibility that the move ends up being the kind of responsible reset Browns fans have been waiting for.
In Other News...
Two Browns Line Moves Are Raising Eyebrows Despite Offseason Praise
Even with the shock of trading Myles Garrett and the lingering uncertainty at quarterback, the Browns have mostly come out of the offseason with decent reviews for the way theyve tried to shore up the roster. ESPNs Seth Walder went as far as giving Cleveland a B+ grade, which says plenty about how the broader picture has been viewed, even if not every move has drawn equal enthusiasm.
The offensive line tweaks are where the questions start to creep in. Walder was not sold on the pricier Zion Johnson signing, and he also raised a red flag about Tytus Howard after a rough recent stretch in both pass protection and run blocking. For a team that should know how much the line matters to everything else it wants to do, the additions may help, but they do not automatically erase the concern that the unit still has something to prove. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Have A Real AFC North Opening If One Problem Changes
The AFC North does not look nearly as closed off as it did a year ago, and that is giving Cleveland a window worth watching. Baltimore has a rookie head coach, Cincinnati keeps finding ways to trip over itself, and Pittsburgh still has questions hanging over both quarterback and age on the roster, which leaves the Browns with a path that would have seemed much tougher on paper not long ago.
Cleveland still has plenty to sort out on its own side, though, especially after the changes on defense and in the coaching staff. The bigger issue is whether the offense can do just enough to let the rest of the roster matter, because the Browns do not need a miracle as much as steady quarterback play and a competent supporting cast to stay in the race through 2026. [Read more 🡒]