Could the Steelers land Myles Garrett? It’s highly unlikely
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, by now you may have heard that Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has requested a trade. Garrett released his statement on Monday, ahead of the conclusion of the 2024 NFL season with this weekend’s Super Bowl LIX.
Myles Garrett has requested a trade.
His statement: pic.twitter.com/yx5Q9Exa0V
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2025
The news rocked the football world as the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and finalist for the same award this season, is a cornerstone of the Cleveland Browns franchise and would provide the same stability to any team he may join. Among those suitors could be a number of NFL clubs, provided the compensation to the Browns – who have quickly denied interest in moving Garrett – is adequate.
While every team in the NFL should at least consider what a Garrett trade would look like, it’s more than likely a fantasy rather than a reality for all but a handful of teams who would be able to meet the trade and salary demands it would take to make it happen. That hasn’t stopped the kneejerk reactions of internet writers and social influencers from pondering a Garrett-to-Pittsburgh scenario. However, that’s highly unlikely to happen for a number of reasons. Here’s why.
Trading with Cleveland
Divisional foes make strange bedfellows for trades. One of the main reasons is Team A doesn’t want to make their rival, Team B, better. Though we’ve seen it happen in the past, trades for Chris Wormley (via the Baltimore Ravens) or Justin Gilbert (with the Browns) didn’t significantly impact either team.
A Myles Garrett trade would impact both teams, as sending one Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) to pair with another (T.J. Watt, who won the award in 2021 and is a finalist again this season) would wreak havoc on opposing offenses: including the Browns, who face the Steelers twice per year during divisional play.
Needless to say, the Steelers aren’t a likely trade partner. However, let’s say Cleveland was willing to listen to an offer. Would Steelers General Manager Omar Khan be willing to part with enough draft picks to force the Browns’ hand?
When the then Oakland Raiders traded DE Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears in 2018, the team swapped a number of draft picks in addition to moving the player. Along with Mac, the Raiders sent a future second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick to Chicago in exchange for two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick. Such a move seems prohibitive for a Steelers team that’s more than a single player away from competing for a Super Bowl, and thus is an unlikely situation for Khan to consider.
Cap Considerations
Even if the Steelers and Browns could agree on draft compensation, how much money will Garrett command from his new team?
The surprising part of Garrett’s contract is the amount of dead money, via void years and prorated bonuses, that Browns GM Andrew Berry has maneuvered over the years. Garrett has two void years, that leave a big $40.9 million cap hit on the Cleveland’s books in 2027. To move on from that kind of money the Browns might be looking for more compensation than usual. Garrett still has two more years on his current deal with cap hits of $19.7 and $20.3 million through the 2026 season.
Those numbers deflate to a base salary of $1.2 and $1.3 million respectively, as the Browns guaranteed $100 million of Garrett’s $125 million extension, with much of his money converted to bonuses over the next two seasons to create cap room since their salary-crippling trade for QB Deshaun Watson.
Because of this, Garrett could be owed next to nothing by his new team. This is akin to Russell Wilson being owed nearly $40 million in 2024 by the Denver Broncos and signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers for a near league minimum.
On the contrary, T.J. Watt has a base salary of $21 million next season with the Steelers, and accounts for $30.4 million against the cap after a prorated signing bonus. Garret may be looking to extend his existing deal with a new team and bump his salary, which is an average for $25 million per year, to get within reach of Watt’s $28 million average – which has been equaled by the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Josh Hines-Allen and New York Giants’ Brian Burns, and surpassed by San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa ($34 million per season).
The Steelers have a projected $40 million of salary cap space this season with 59 players under contract. However, one of those players isn’t a quarterback, which is likely to chew up a great deal of money next year and beyond. That beyond is 2026, where only 25 current players on the roster are contractually obligated through with several free agents pending, including Watt.
It would take some careful planning and accounting to add a player of the caliber of Garrett. However, without any quarterback, running back, or wide receiver tied to Pittsburgh long-term, it would appear their money would need to be spent on the other side of the ball as the team already accounts for the highest-paid defense in the NFL.
Do the Steelers need him?
Again, there are probably 31 other NFL teams asking the same question and answering “yes”, including the Steelers. Can they afford Garrett, and what might be the impact of building a team around him are better questions.
In that light, the answer for the Steelers is likely a resounding no. A Garrett contract would prohibit the Steelers from paying a quarterback, re-signing their own players, and adding other quality talent via free agency.
While Cameron Heyward enters his twilight years, it never hurts to look ahead. The Steelers have done their diligence in adding Keeanu Benton in 2023. Larry Ogunjobi still commands his own top-ten team salary too. All three are 3-4 defensive ends, which begs the question of Garrett’s 4-3 defensive end frame fitting into Pittsburgh’s schemes.
To the naïve, they’ll say you make it fit, but to what end is this necessary? If the 6-4, 272 lbs. Garrett were to squeeze in on the interior defensive line, this could work. However, to have his hand up from the dirt as an edge rusher – where he excels – would mean playing outside linebacker in Pittsburgh. The Steelers already have Watt, and another well-compensated pass rusher in Alex Highsmith. The young and upcoming Nick Herbig is a great third rusher, negating the need for more.
Garrett as a 4-3 defensive end projects him as more of a defensive tackle. They could make it work, but would he be as effective in that role? Only time would tell but seeing as this entire scenario is an outside pipe dream of occurring renders it a moot point for the Steelers. In short, they do not need him for what it would cost in salary and a trade.
Not to mention the Browns would be fools to not only deal Garrett, but make the swap with their division rival Steelers.
Sorry folks, this one isn’t happening.
