While making the rounds at Super Bowl media days, Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze made an ambitious pitch — he wants Cleveland Browns star edge rusher Myles Garrett to join the NFC North.
Rome Odunze Recruits Myles Garrett to the Chicago Bears
“Myles Garrett is coming to the Bears. Yeah, that’s what I need to happen!” Odunze told Sports Seriously.
“Come to the NFC North!” he added, before looking at the camera. “Myles, come on, brother!”
Rome Odunze recruiting Myles Garrett to the Bears? 👀👀
(Via sportsseriously on TikTok) pic.twitter.com/u68DsK1bU3
— PFSN (@PFN365) February 18, 2025
Garrett requested a trade from the Browns on Feb. 3, igniting immediate speculation about potential landing spots for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. However, that does not necessarily mean Cleveland is ready to part ways with its franchise cornerstone.
As quickly as the trade request surfaced, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the Browns have no interest in entertaining offers for the four-time All-Pro. ESPN’s Benjamin Solak echoed that while speaking with FanDuel TV host Kay Adams.
“I think you’re going to see Myles Garrett back in a Browns uniform,” Solak told Adams. “I think it’s going to be frustrating. It’s going to be training camp drama.
“The Browns don’t want to move him. He’s Myles Garrett. You can’t want to move the guy.”
Solak did not specify whether Garrett would suit up for Cleveland in the preseason or regular season but made it clear that the situation could linger.
That has not stopped Odunze from making his pitch on radio row.
“As a kid dreaming of the NFL, all I focused on was the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl — and that goal fuels me today more than ever,” Garrett wrote in a prepared statement. “My love for the community of Northeast Ohio and the incredible fanbase of the Cleveland Browns has made this one of the toughest decisions of my life. These past eight years have shaped me into the man that I am today.
“While I’ve loved calling the city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl. With that in mind, I have requested to be traded from the Cleveland Browns.”
Garrett leaving the Browns would be a tough pill to swallow; while the Browns could receive hefty draft compensation in return for Garrett, analysts will likely call the Browns the losers in the deal. No matter how you slice it, Garrett will most likely be the better player in the deal.
Trading Garrett will also be difficult from a cap standpoint. Cleveland has some options, but it will be difficult for the Browns to trade Garrett financially because his contract is wildly voided. With a pre-June 1 trade, his cap hit would go from $19.722 million to over $36 million.
If Cleveland trades Garrett after June 1, it would save just under $5 million. However, the Browns would carry over $20 million in dead money in 2025. Cleveland also has -$27.5 million in cap space as of right now. The Browns would clear a lot of that if they void Deshaun Watson’s deal or get cap credits, but they need to become cap-compliant.
Adding more than $17 million in dead money by trading their best player is not going to make that happen. A Garrett trade can work for Cleveland if the Browns get it done before the fifth day of the league year. They can save $18.541 million in cap space post-trade, and he has an option bonus due then worth that amount.
If Cleveland trades Garrett before that date or convinces him to move the date of the option bonus back, his cap hit would save around $1 million this year. Garrett’s new team would take on the $18.54 million option bonus and his $1.255 million base salary, so his cap number for the new team would be around $4.5 million.
According to Spotrac, the Browns are already more than $27 million over the salary cap as of Feb. 17. Moving on from Garrett will make the team’s roster worse and put them in a more dire cap situation.
The NFL trading period for 2025 begins in March after the expiration of all 2024 contracts.