It’s Tuesday morning. Here’s what we’ve got …
Cleveland Browns
• The trade deadline is Nov. 4, and usually a lot of us reporters make a bigger deal of it than it really is to the teams. Too few teams at this point in the calendar are totally out of the race, and some have coaches and GMs fighting for their jobs, who are naturally less willing to strip their rosters for parts, knowing it could affect their survival.
For those reasons, when a big name is presented as an option, it’s usually only responsibly done with the “but probably not” preface ahead of the deadline.
So, with that preamble, I give you Myles Garrett.
Only in this case, I’m going to adjust the asterisks next to his name: Probably not, but his team really needs to think about it. This, to be clear, has nothing to do with Garrett’s ability as a player. He leads the NFL with 10 sacks, including a career-high five against the Patriots last week, and is one of only a few current NFL players considered to be a bona fide lock to be in Canton five years after he retires. This also has nothing to do with the trade request he logged with Cleveland nine months ago.
A potential trade is about what’s best for the Browns, the timeline for their rebuild and Garrett’s career timeline (just to be clear, the team has been steadfast in saying it won’t trade him).
Cleveland has major holes at quarterback, receiver and tackle on offense. The core that led playoff runs in 2020 and ’23 is aging out, with a few key players such as Denzel Ward, Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin and Garrett still around. The impact of the three first-round picks lost in the Deshaun Watson trade is being felt now, with the dearth of young veterans coming through the pipeline to replace that core.
The Browns, to their credit, acknowledged their position in trading the second pick in April. Moving that choice and the right to take Travis Hunter was an admission that the roster needed an influx of youth and wasn’t one player away from being a contender. What’s more, it’s actually started to work, with a bumper crop of rookies headlined by Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr. flashing big-time potential.
So, now is the time to lean into their strategy. For argument’s sake, let’s say the Browns could get two first-round picks, a 2026 second-round pick and a ’27 third-round pick for Garrett. In that scenario, Cleveland would have three first-round picks and two second-rounders in ’26, and a total of 10 picks in the first five rounds, and two first-rounders and five picks in the first three rounds of the ’27 draft.
Add that to the core the Browns are starting to build with the 2025 class, and they’re looking at an opportunity to be firing on all cylinders by ’27 or ’28.
To me, that’s probably the fastest timeline for the team. You can look at the team on the other side on Sunday for proof. The most significant factor that supercharged the ongoing New England rebuild is quarterback Drake Maye, who is now in his second year. So even if the Browns get as lucky as the Patriots did—to be dreadful in the right year, and find their version of Maye this April—we’re talking about that hypothetical quarterback’s second year being 2027.
That December, Garrett will turn 32. That’s how old Von Miller was when he was traded from the Broncos to the Rams. And it’s fair to say that, while still capable as a complement to Aaron Donald in a Super Bowl run, Miller wasn’t the transcendent, game-wrecking force he had been. That year was also the season that J.J. Watt went to the Cardinals after injuries ravaged his final years in Houston.
If the Browns wait until then, Garrett won’t have the value he does now. Miller got the Broncos second- and third-round picks in a midseason trade. Watt asked for and was granted his release by the Texans.
So, in the midst of a lost season, this would be the time to make the move. Garrett’s still at the top of his game. There’d be a big market for him, with a contract that’s relatively manageable with his bonus money paid out (his base salary for the rest of the year is at the veteran minimum, and he’s due $73.2 million over the next two years). Yes, there’d be a cap acceleration that’d be tough to swallow (around $45 million) for Cleveland, but if there’s a time to take that sort of medicine, I’d argue that it’s probably now.
Three years ago, the Seahawks made a similar decision when they moved on from Russell Wilson, figuring there wouldn’t be many shots left to get a top return for him. And the draft-pick windfall from Denver for Wilson has been the fuel behind a turbocharged rebuild that has Seattle at 5–2, with a loaded, young roster that should win for the foreseeable future.
The Browns have a chance to set themselves up now like Seattle did then.
I’d (reluctantly) take it if I were them.
Kansas City Chiefs
• The Chiefs are rolling, like we told you they would be.
The one question lingering here is the status of rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, who has missed wins over the Lions, Raiders and Commanders.
For now, the first thing to know is the two-year, $30 million deal the Chiefs gave Jaylon Moore in the offseason, even if he’s not the starting left tackle they paid him to be, is money well spent. The Chiefs have depth at those positions that they didn’t before. Last year, a black hole at left tackle forced the team to move Joe Thuney there, setting off a cascade that blew up in the team’s Super Bowl loss. They’ll likely have no such problem this year.
That said, they’re better with the wildly talented Simmons in there. What I know is that the issue first arose just before the Jaguars game. Simmons ended up playing in that matchup, then left right before the Lions game. The cited family aspect of his absence is real, and that was a part of the background that teams had to work through when he was coming out.
Here’s the other detail that’s important: If the Chiefs felt like this was going to be an absence of more than a month, they would’ve placed him on the non-football injury list. So the timeline, as they worked with Simmons (and they’ve been in constant communication with him of late), has been more week-to-week than long-term. And getting Simmons back is another reason to believe the Chiefs are only going to get better over the months to come.
Minnesota Vikings
• There’s been some confusion over Carson Wentz’s injury, so I figured we could clear some of it up as the Vikings quarterback prepares for season-ending shoulder surgery.
Wentz initially tore the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder in Minnesota’s Oct. 5 win over the Browns in London, playing through it in the second half. Thereafter, it was determined that the shoulder was stable, and while the injury is painful, it’s one that players at other positions play through wearing a harness. Wentz told the Vikings he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him—playing meaningful snaps as the quarterback of a loaded offense—for as long as he could with the injury.
There was no breaking point in the Vikings’ 37–10 loss to the Chargers that prompted Wentz to decide it was time for the surgery. Instead, it became a matter of functionality, with it becoming increasingly apparent to Wentz that it’d be difficult for him to reestablish a consistent level of play while working through the injury.
Of course, Wentz showed great toughness in playing through it against the Eagles and Chargers over a five-day stretch. As the Vikings kept checking in with him over the two-and-a-half weeks between the injury and this decision, he kept saying he wanted to play.
Eventually, it became the logical time, for Wentz at least, to get a tough injury taken care of. And it worked out for the Vikings, too, with J.J. McCarthy set to return Sunday.
Green Bay Packers
• One of my favorite guys to watch in the league right now is Packers tight end Tucker Kraft.
I wouldn’t throw Rob Gronkowski comps around lightly, but there’s definitely some Gronk to Kraft’s game—primarily in how he’s a runaway freight train in the open field. His ascendance is something Green Bay’s been anticipating since drafting him in the third round in 2023 after taking another tight end (Luke Musgrave) in the second round that April. It became apparent quickly that the Packers might have more than they thought they’d get in the combination of Kraft’s size, strength and athleticism.
His seven touchdowns last year were an indication of where Kraft could go. Now, everyone’s getting to see why Packers people were quietly confident back in camp that, amid a crowded group of young skill players, the tight end could become a focal point for the Green Bay offense.
“Every time he catches the ball, he’s making big play after big play—the yards after catch, and it’s on a week-in, week-out basis,” quarterback Jordan Love told me after the Packers’ win over the Steelers. “I’m happy for him; he’s finally come on the scene. And he’s making a name for himself as one of the best tight ends in the league.”
RB resurgence?
• Through eight weeks, four running backs—Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson and James Cook—are on pace to eclipse 2,000 scrimmage yards. For perspective, consider that over the past decade (2015 to ’24), just 11 backs crossed that threshold, and in no year did more than two backs do it in the same season.
Of those players, Taylor and McCaffrey probably have the best case to be in the MVP race, with Taylor and Daniel Jones bringing the Colts alive, and McCaffrey being the one constant for a very beat-up 49ers team. But it’s actually Robinson who’s got the hottest hand. He’s on pace to hit 2,336 yards from scrimmage, which would be the seventh best of all-time (ahead of Steven Jackson who hit 2,334 yards in 2006).
Taylor and McCaffrey are already over 1,000 scrimmage yards through eight games. Robinson is just 38 yards away from that mark going into his eighth game this weekend.
Houston Texans
• C.J. Stroud’s a very serious x-factor in the AFC race. If he can play like he did Sunday against the 49ers, and without Nico Collins in the lineup, then Houston’s coming.
The Texans have a first-year offensive coordinator, in Nick Caley, a rookie left tackle (Aireontae Ersery), a rookie (Jayden Higgins) who led all receivers in snaps played Sunday, another rookie receiver (Jaylin Noel) who played a lot of minutes and a rookie running back (Woody Marks) who’s essentially splitting snaps with Nick Chubb now. Simple logic would hold that those players will keep ascending as the year goes on.
And we know how good the defense is.
So can Stroud build on his work dicing up the Niners?
“Since he got here, dude, you give him a clean pocket and space to throw, kid’s gonna light it up,” tight end Dalton Schultz told me Sunday. “He’s built like that, he’s wired like that. He’s a competitor. And I think he’s come such a long way evolving his process, becoming more patient the older he gets, being willing to take a check down. He took a checkdown today that went for 50, where maybe the rookie C.J. wouldn’t have been so quick to just dump it. He’s come a long way into being willing to take a good play that could turn into a great play.”
Which tells you the best is yet to come.
Baltimore Ravens
• John Harbaugh said Monday that he expects Lamar Jackson to go in the Ravens’ Thursday night game against the Dolphins, which plays out nicely for Baltimore.
The Ravens survived Jackson’s absence to beat the Bears on Sunday, advancing to 2–5, and avoided putting him on the field twice in five days. He’ll have 10 days between his return and his second game back (the Ravens’ Nov. 9 game against the Vikings), which is important because of the nature of hamstring injuries and how they often linger and/or recur.
Some teams have started to look at the more mobile quarterbacks and consider how wear and tear can affect their mechanics later in the year and into the playoffs, and hurt their accuracy in the postseason. It’s an interesting detail to consider, and is another reason why the Ravens want to maintain Jackson’s health as the year wears on (it could apply to Washington’s handling of Jayden Daniels, too).
Quick-hitters
• It’s tough for the 6–2 Broncos to lose Patrick Surtain II. However, that’s one of the deeper parts of Denver’s roster, and Surtain’s absence could help the team continue to develop young corners Riley Moss and Jahdae Barron by using them in different ways in the coming weeks, which could make the Broncos stronger in the long run.
• The Titans’ decision to move Roger McCreary is logical, and the corner does fill a need for the Rams. Could Tennessee keep dealing? My understanding is they’ll listen on anyone but Cam Ward and Jeffery Simmons, and they’ve gotten calls on Arden Key and Dre’Mont Jones, among others.
• There are job openings at LSU, Texas and Penn State, and it’ll be interesting to see if any of those schools sniff around the NFL (though the Bill Belichick situation at UNC might scare some off). I’d imagine that, at the very least, a few guys, like Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, are being researched by those schools. There’s also an opening at Oklahoma State where Falcons OC Zac Robinson would be a logical hire.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why It Might Be Time for the Browns to Consider Trading Myles Garrett.