The Cleveland Browns enter yet another offseason where a Super Bowl feels improbable. Sure, anything can happen in the NFL, but Cleveland has one of the thinnest rosters in the league and is beginning a new era under head coach Todd Monken. That timeline does not necessarily align with its star player, Myles Garrett. Which is why the Browns were recently urged to consider a blockbuster trade involving their franchise cornerstone.
Louis Riddick Suggests Browns Revisit Myles Garrett Trade Talks
During a discussion about Cleveland’s draft outlook on ESPN’s NFL Draft Daily, former NFL executive Louis Riddick floated a scenario that would dramatically alter the organization’s trajectory.
Riddick began with the Browns’ draft position. Cleveland owns the No. 6 and No. 24 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, but he argued that those assets alone may not be enough to fix what ails the roster.
“With the Browns holding the sixth and 24th pick, there’s another way they can accumulate more picks,” Riddick said.
“I think that’s by entertaining a year-too-late trade of Myles Garrett. I think that’s something that has to be on the table once again. As good as Myles has been, they still haven’t been able to win with him. They haven’t been able to put up anything in terms of ultimate team success.”
Garrett just completed another dominant campaign, winning his second Defensive Player of the Year award and setting a single-season record with 23 sacks.
He now has eight straight seasons of at least 10 sacks and 125.5 sacks for his career, along with 149 tackles for loss and 239 quarterback hits. Individually, he has delivered exactly what the Browns hoped for when they selected him first overall in 2017.
Team success has not followed at the same level. Cleveland won five games last season. The franchise has reached the playoffs only twice in Garrett’s nine-year career and has not won a postseason game since 2020. That disconnect between elite individual production and limited team success is at the core of Riddick’s argument.
A New Cleveland Browns Regime Faces a Defining Call
Cleveland’s front office now faces a decision that goes beyond one player. The Browns have fired Kevin Stefanski and turned to Monken to reshape the organization. The roster has holes on both sides of the ball, and even with two first-round picks, the rebuild will not be immediate.
Riddick framed the debate in practical terms. Cleveland’s current draft capital may not be enough to address its quarterback uncertainty and other structural needs. A trade involving Garrett would command a massive return and could accelerate a reset around younger pieces.
“There’s plenty of reason for Myles to want to move on if the Browns would grant him that wish,” Riddick said. “Cleveland could get a boatload for him. They probably need it, because the picks that they have now still aren’t enough, given all the needs that they have.”
Moving Garrett would be a franchise-defining decision. Keeping him signals a belief that the Browns can compete quickly under Monken. Trading him would acknowledge that the timeline requires patience and draft capital.
Either way, Cleveland’s direction will hinge on how it values the prime years of a generational pass rusher versus the opportunity to reshape the roster in one sweeping move.
