Reworked Contract Makes Myles Garrett Easier To Trade, But Browns Say That’s Not The Plan

The Browns reworked DE Myles Garrett‘s contract this week in a move that makes it easier for Cleveland to trade the star pass rusher if they wish.

However, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot says, citing sources, that the Browns have no plans to trade Garrett. In fact, she says it three different times in the first two paragraphs of the article. 

Adam Schefter says he called the Browns as well once other teams pointed out the contract change to him and was told, “we are 100 percent definitely not trading him.” He added the Browns were adamant about that and asked Schefter not to even bring it up or dignify it. 

The Browns changed the due date for significant option bonuses that Garrett was due in 2026, 2027 and 2028. Originally due on the 15th day of the new league year, the new due date is seven days before Week 1. 

Option bonuses are a contract mechanism the Browns lean on to spread out cap hits for their major contracts. They are treated like signing bonuses against the salary cap and prorated up to a maximum of five years. 

Unlike signing bonuses, however, which are due on or shortly after signing, the cash from option bonuses isn’t due until after the option is exercised. By moving the date of the option from March to late August/early September, the Browns have given themselves more flexibility to trade Garrett without limiting their cap space. 

For instance, if the Browns traded Garrett before the draft in April, they would have still been responsible for his entire $29.2 million option bonus on their books while a new team would inherit whatever was left. With the option date pushed back, Garrett’s new team would inherit that $29.2 million bonus. That same flexibility extends for the next three years. 

Garrett still has a no-trade clause as a part of the deal, and for this kind of reworked contract, the Browns needed Garrett to sign off with his approval. 

In return, Garrett reportedly received a more favorable payment schedule for the option bonuses than he had before. For cashflow reasons, teams will often delay when players actually receive bonus payments by a few weeks or a few months. (If Garrett got a more favorable payment schedule, this means cash flow is not necessarily a benefit to the Browns of doing this restructure). 

He also had $8 million of his $38 million base salary in both 2029 and 2030 converted into roster bonuses that will be due early in each respective league year. 

Cabot notes that sources refuted rumors that Garrett and the team have had little or no contact since the end of the season. She says the two sides were in close contact during the coaching search and at the start of free agency. 

She says Garrett, who requested a trade last year before ultimately agreeing to a record-setting contract extension, remains committed to the team despite saying at the end of last season that he just wanted to win and expressing some frustration at the departure of DC Jim Schwartz.

Garrett broke the NFL single-season sack record in 2025, while the Browns finished 5-12. 

Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, the Browns also recently proposed a rule change that would allow teams to trade picks as far as five years out instead of three. 

Garrett, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Browns back in 2017. He finished the third year of his four-year, $30.4 million fully guaranteed contract and was set to make a base salary of $4.61 million for the 2020 season when he agreed to a five-year extension worth $125 million with the Browns. 

Cleveland signed him to a record four-year, $160 million contract extension in March that included $123.5 million in guaranteed money.

In 2025, Garrett appeared in all 17 games for the Browns and recorded 60 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 23 sacks, three forced fumbles and one pass defended.

We’ll have more on the Browns and Garrett as the news is available.