Myles Garrett Trade Request Massively Alters Browns Future

The Monday before the Super Bowl is generally meant to serve as a kickoff to a week long celebration of the two teams fortunate enough to make it to football's grandest stage. Myles Garrett had other plans.
The Cleveland Browns star pass rusher – perhaps strategically – chose to hijack the floor from the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles by demanding a trade out of Northeast Ohio. Garrett's public letter detailing his intentions sent the NFL world into a frenzy. It sent Browns fans, however, into an immediate depression.
For a fan base that is uniquely connected to its football team, betrayal is a valid emotion to be feeling right now. But not from Garrett, from the team.
The Browns have always been part of the fabric of the city of Cleveland. And yet, Garrett's trade request is a gut punch that can and will do irreversible damage to the relationship between the fans and the franchise.
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This deterioration began the day team brass decided to pull the trigger on the seismic trade for Deshaun Watson in 2022. It will likely go down as the worst trade in sports history and most certainly sets the organization back for years to come.
There is some relief in understanding that though. The Browns found themselves in a weird purgatory at the start of the offseason. They were only a year removed from a trip to the playoffs, but a mere weeks removed from a disastrous 3-14 season. There's an argument to be made that this team could get back to being the 2023 version of itself. That said, with Watson fading into the background the quarterback situation is as uncertain as ever. Without that position solidified they're probably closer to a repeat of 2024.
Garrett's presence on the roster meant the Browns would have to try and stay competitive. Wasting the prime years of the franchise's second best player ever would be a crime of the highest order. It also prevented the Browns from embracing the reality of where they are as a franchise: an aging, expensive roster with a plethora of holes to fill at key positions.
Frustrating as Garrett's trade request may be for everyone involved or invested in this team, the truth is it actually provides some necessary clarity about their future. It's officially time to blow it up.
No more pretending they're something they're not. The organization digging in and saying they have no intentions to trade the him is only delaying the inevitable. General manager Andrew Berry can, and should look to flip Garrett for the highest, draft pick loaded package, and position the franchise to revamp this roster through the draft over the next several years.
Why stop at Garrett? Denzel Ward could net some valuable draft compensation too. So could players like guard Wyatt Teller and tight end David Njoku. There should even be legitimate discussions about whether or not Berry is the person to build the roster back to prominence over the next few years.
Nothing is off limits when it comes to a rebuild.
For all the wrong reasons Garrett's trade request will live on as one of those "remember where you were when" moments in Cleveland sports history. It also marks the end of a once promising era of Cleveland Browns football. One that began with so much hope behind beloved figures like Garrett and former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. And ends with an embarrassing thud, with Watson lurking around as a reminder of the failures made by those in charge.
The sooner they burn it all down, the sooner healing can begin for a fan base that deserves much better.