Chicago Bears' Dream Trade Scenario Given New Life After Comments From Beat Reporters

Here we are once again: the dream of a Myles Garrett trade for the Chicago Bears has been given new life.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

When Cleveland Browns superstar edge rusher Myles Garrett asked to be traded last offseason, Chicago Bears fans were immediately ready to pounce.

That's because the Bears needed an edge rusher at the time and, quite frankly, fans would have wanted Garrett even if they didn't — and who can blame them? Garrett is a one-of-a-kind player and you just don't say "no" to a player like that.

However, the Bears' hopes of trading for Garrett were dashed when he pulled back his request following the Browns sending over the Brinks truck to the superstar, which seemed to end all hope Garrett would ever be in Chicago.

But there was new life given to the Bears this offseason after the Browns modified Garrett's contract, seemingly out of nowhere, and the modification noticeably made trading his contract far easier than it was initially.

"This is a pretty bizarre move on Garrett’s end as it defers the payment of salary each year to Garrett and really just opens up a trade window each year, except Garrett has a no trade provision. It is hard to really tell what the logic is here from either side," Jason Fitzgerald from Over The Cap said.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry said modifying Garrett's deal had nothing to do with possibly trading him, but two Cleveland beat reporters aren't buying it.

New life (again) for Myles Garrett to Bears?

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The Athletic's Zac Jackson and Jason Lloyd recently spoke on the topic of Garrett's contract and both agreed that, at the very least, this absolutely opens the door for a Garrett trade.

“I absolutely believe this restructure was to give them the flexibility to (trade Garrett). One question no one has really answered: Why did Myles agree to this?” Lloyd asked. “I don’t think Myles is living paycheck to paycheck, but what’s in it for him to delay payment from March until September?”

“It’s pretty obvious that the payment delay keeps the door open (to a Garrett trade),”Jackson said in response. “Perhaps both sides agreed that going public last time didn’t benefit anyone. Maybe some all-in team told the Browns that a true Godfather offer was in the works. Maybe — I guess — the Browns just really don’t know how the next two to five months will go and wanted to keep all options open, and Garrett was willing to communicate and cooperate just in case”.

Would the Browns trade Garrett?

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

No matter what Andrew Berry says publicly, there is absolutely a world in which Garrett gets traded.

While Garrett seems to be at least relatively happy now, we know that can change in the drop of a hat if the Browns keep losing and fail at their current rebuild. History suggests the Browns have a better chance to fail at that rebuild than not and if Garrett does eventually want out, he's going to get his wish.

Even if Garrett doesn't ask for a trade, the Browns would be foolish not to deal him at this point. After all, as Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer rightly pointed out, the timelines of Garrett's prime and the Browns' rebuild simply don't match up, which means Cleveland is likely to need at least a few more years and at that point, Garrett, who will be 31 in December, could be on the decline and won't be worthy anywhere near as much as he is now.

"I think they should trade [Myles Garrett] because I don't think the timelines match anymore," Breer said on the Rich Eisen show. "There's a good chance that the quarterback of the future isn't going to be on the roster until 2027, right? You look at what they did last year in trading the Travis Hunter pick which was, I think, basically an acknowledgment that that group had aged out.

Why the Bears need Garrett

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson. | David Banks-Imagn Images

It's pretty obvious why.

Garrett the elite of the elite as far as edge rushers are concerned and capable of taking Chicago's defense to a championship level, the Bears also have a big concern at the position.

Dayo Odeyingbo is a complete wild card, not just because of his Achilles injury, but also because he wasn't good before the injury last season. Austin Booker is a nice player, but he's a rotational player and not someone a Super Bowl contender should be starting.

Can the Bears afford Garrett?

In terms of draft capital, absolutely. The Bears need to have at least two first-round picks at their disposal to make a Garrett trade, and they have all of them moving forward.

When it comes to money, the Bears are in good shape there, also. As far as this year is concerned, yes, the Bears have just $215,000 to work with, but as we noted earlier this offseason, there are avenues for Chicago to open up more money.

If a Garrett trade happens next year, it's even more feasible, as the Bears are projected to have $61 million in cap space right now, and that's with 33 players on the roster and before any cuts or restructures.