The Cleveland Browns are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Their franchise superstar, Myles Garrett, wants to be traded, while the team is stuck paying quarterback Deshaun Watson $92 million over the next two years. Watson will be 30 in September, has torn his Achilles twice in the last four months and was one of the worst passers in the NFL last season.
What if the Browns could solve both of those problems at once?
In a new trade proposal on Wednesday’s episode of D.C.-based “The Al Galdi Podcast,” host Al Galdi and former Salary Cap Analyst for the Washington football franchise J.I. Halsell suggested a deal that would land the Commanders one of the league’s top defenders while providing the Browns with salary relief and a complete organizational reset.
Galdi described the deal as “the nuclear trade option,” in which the Commanders would take on Watson’s “albatross of a contract” with the intent of releasing him. In exchange for removing Watson from Cleveland’s books, Washington would also receive Garrett for a cheaper cost than it otherwise would’ve taken to acquire a talent like the 29-year-old All-Pro. According to Over The Cap, the Commanders have $82.2 million in cap space, which would allow them to absorb the Watson contract. The Browns, meanwhile, are $24 million over the salary cap.
“The question becomes, are we as Washington okay with having $46 million of dead money this year and next year for a player who’s not on our team, but we get Myles Garrett in the process?” Halsell said. “Some would say it’s worth it to get a difference-maker as a defensive end. We’ve got $80 million of cap space going into this offseason. Are you willing to use half of it or so on using Deshaun Watson to go get a Myles Garrett? It’s not unreasonable, and you’re really just doing some salary cap gymnastics in order to facilitate a Myles Garrett trade.”
Garrett alone is expected to net multiple first-rounders and more in a potential trade. However, if Cleveland can find a partner willing to take on Watson’s contract, that could be worth much more to the Browns than extra picks. Regardless, Cleveland is expected to enter a rebuild this offseason, and in this scenario, general manager Andrew Berry would have to decide if he would rather have extra draft picks and be in salary cap misery for two years or if he wants to start completely fresh with Watson off the roster and monetary flexibility.
Of course, that wouldn’t give Garrett to the Commanders for “free.” Washington would still likely have to send over some draft capital — potential in the middle rounds — although it would not be as much as if the team traded for Garrett individually.
“If I am the Cleveland Browns, I don’t want just the cap relief for a Myles Garrett-level player,” Halsell said. “I want picks because I am going to have to backfill that guy… It’s going to require some draft assets in addition to the cap relief if I’m going to move on from Myles Garrett.”
Giving up valuable assets to move off of a hefty contract would not be unheard of. In 2017, the Texans had to trade a second-round pick to the Browns so that they would take on Brock Osweiler’s contract. In the NBA two summers ago, the Wizards didn’t receive a single first-round pick in exchange for recent All-Star Bradley Beal in an era of mega-trades, partially because his contract was so massive. When a team makes a major deal that doesn’t age well, like Watson’s, they have had to pay the price.
If Berry decided to accept a trade offer as big as this proposal, it would be certain to shake up the NFL world, but it would give the Browns a direction moving forward and fully commit the team to a fresh restart.