Since Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Myles Garrett declared he wants out of Cleveland, many teams have been unofficially recruiting him with their star players. The Dallas Cowboys are no different. Micah Parsons took to social media to recruit Garrett to the Cowboys so together they could stop Super Bowl 59 winners, the Philadelphia Eagles.
There is a challenge in trading for Garrett. Aside from the team having to come up with the assets to facilitate the trade itself, the team would have to either absorb Garrett’s astonishing contract or find a way to renegotiate or otherwise extend the contract to make it salary-cap friendly.
It’s worth noting the price tag for Garrett is a first and second-round pick, or a first-round pick and two third-round selections plus a player, according to an NFL GM who spoke with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
How Does a Team Land Garrett?
It is going to be hard for the Browns to trade him financially. His cap hit would go from $19.722 million to over $36 million with a pre-June 1 trade. If they trade him after June 1, they would save just under $5 million ($4,963,225). However, the Browns would then carry over a $20 million dead money number in 2025.
Cleveland also has -$27.5 million in cap space right now. It will clear a lot of that if it can void Deshaun Watson’s deal or receive cap credits, but the Browns need that just to be cap compliant, without adding more than $17 million in dead money by trading their best player.
If the Browns can trade him before the fifth day of the league year, they can save $18.54M in cap space post-trade. He then has an option bonus due worth that exact amount. If they trade him before that date or convince him to move the date of the option bonus back, his cap hit would essentially be a saving of around a million this year.
Whoever Garrett’s new team would be will take on the $18.54 million option bonus and his $1.255 million base salary. His cap number for the new team would be around $4.5 million.
Going back to Parsons and the Cowboys, taking on Garrett and his $4.5 million cap hit isn’t unattainable. They currently are over the cap by $2.8 million, but like all teams do, can easily restructure contracts to clear up space.
@Flash_Garrett let’s stop thanos and friends ! https://t.co/W8MazBOhbd pic.twitter.com/npbbDHVqV8
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) February 12, 2025
Adding Garrett to the Cowboys can make Dallas have one of the deadliest pass rushes in the NFL with both he and Parsons on both edges.
Dallas may also be one of the more intriguing trade partners with Cleveland. The Cowboys own the 12th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and adding another top-15 pick would be an enormous get for the Browns.