The 2026 NFL Draft is officially behind us, and we can finally react to what the Cleveland Browns did instead of what they might do.
We also now have a proverbial scoreboard, and that’s not great news for those predicting a Myles Garrett bombshell trade during draft weekend.
To recap, the Browns reworked the language around option bonus payouts in Garrett’s contract in late March. The move immediately raised eyebrows, as it made Garrett’s contract more tradable. Cleveland essentially delayed a sizable bonus payment until September of this year, in theory pushing all of Garrett’s $31.5 million cash salary to the acquiring team in a potential trade.
The move led to some wild trade-package ideas involving Garrett and 2026 draft capital, which is fine in an alternate universe. In reality? Garrett owns a no-trade clause, and any trade would be a collaborative process between Garrett and the team. For the Browns, a trade prior to June 1 this year was going to be discussed internally, as it would have slapped Cleveland with an extra $17.2 million in accelerated salary cap charges for 2026.
Mercifully, the trade winds calmed, and Garrett wasn’t even a topic as the Browns made their two first-round selections on Thursday night. In fact, Berry may have torched the pending post-June 1 trade narratives, too, by once again passing on adding a pure pass rusher in this draft.
Based on the scoreboard, Berry seems much more likely to address Garrett’s contract in a more proactive way this offseason in the form of a pay raise than he is to take the extremely complicated route of trying to trade him.
The Browns’ lack of an edge move makes their plan with Myles Garrett obvious
This past weekend marked the seventh draft of Berry’s tenure with the Browns. He’s only used one top-100 pick on a pass rusher over that span: Alex Wright, in Round 3 of the 2022 draft.
If there was a year to break that trend, this was it. Aside from all the outside noise on Garrett’s future, and him now entering his age-31 season, the Browns appeared poised to use at least one of their original nine selections on an edge defender. Not only was this considered a deep class for pass rushers, but Cleveland had a deal fall through with the Bills’ A.J. Epenesa during free agency; had concerns not emerged after his team physical, Epenesa would have been added to the Browns’ roster.
The Browns did add a pair of 2027 mid-round draft picks from the Giants and Seahawks over the weekend, so it’s technically possible they look to make a trade sometime during training camp. But as it stands, the depth chart at defensive end is led by Garrett, Wright, and Isaiah McGuire. With Cameron Thomas now in Atlanta, no other players at that position on the current roster played a snap for the Browns in 2025.
All signs point to one clear move with Garrett, and it’s definitely not a trade. With Will Anderson, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson, T.J. Watt, and Danielle Hunter all passing Garrett on the average annual value list since his last extension in March of 2025, the Browns should be looking to address Garrett’s salary for 2026 fresh off one of the greatest single-season performances in NFL history.
There’s no stopping the national speculation. As Browns fans saw this offseason, predictions will come in all shapes and sizes, even if they aren’t rooted in any sense of reality.
A breakup sometime down the line is plausible (March of 2028 could make the most sense from a financial standpoint), but a raise prior to Week 1 of the regular season this year now feels much more likely than a trade.
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