The Cleveland Browns are in a weird conundrum. While they have a future Hall of Famer in his prime on the roster in Myles Garrett, the team has failed to construct a halfway decent team around him. The biggest question mark for them remains the quarterback position.
After asking for a trade last offseason, a contract restructure has opened the eyes of the entire football world to a potential trade involving the two-time DPOY. But veteran Browns insider Tony Grossi believes the organization could be looking to kill two birds with the same stone.
Myles Garrett Could Solve the Browns’ Number 1 Problem
Last summer, after years of frustration, Garrett demanded a trade from Cleveland. Instead, he received a four-year, $160 million contract extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time.
A year later, though, the Browns might be more open to the idea. The entire rumor stemmed from a contract restructuring orchestrated by the team. The move delayed his $29.2M option bonus for 2026-2028 to just before the regular season.
It gave them additional cap flexibility, while also lowering his pre-June 1 trade dead cap hit to $40.3 million. Immediately, rumors ran wild, particularly after the Browns proposed the rule change earlier in the offseason.
The same team that hung an albatross around its neck by trading three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson suggested that teams needed to be allowed to trade first-round picks five years into the future.
At the time, it seemed like a foolish decision. But following Garrett’s contract restructure, the football world was able to put 2 and 2 together pretty quickly. Grossi, though, believes a potential Garrett move could help the Browns immediately, as they make a run at Arch Manning.
The latest product of the Manning family dynasty, the youngster is making a name for himself at Texas and could make a run for the NFL in 2027. Grossi, who has served as the franchise’s on-air radio host and currently serves on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, believes there is a direct relation between the two.
“If you’re Haslam, you have your eye on Arch Manning, no doubt.” Jimmy Haslam, who has had a hands-on approach with the team since becoming the owner, could be interested in bringing a star of Manning’s caliber to uplift the franchise as a whole.
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However, Grossi also mentioned the New York Jets, who have already stockpiled on draft capital after the Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner trades last season, as a potential landing spot for the third-generation superstar.
It remains to be seen if Cleveland goes through with the blockbuster move at some point this offseason. But bringing in their potential long-term franchise quarterback might be the only pathway where parting ways with Garrett makes sense.
