How Myles Garrett Trade Impacts Expectations Todd Monken’s First Year With Browns

The Cleveland Browns are officially embarking on a new journey moving forward.

On Monday, the Browns agreed to trade superstar edge rusher Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for star defensive end Jared Verse and draft compensation. This trade now puts the Browns in an interesting position with their new coaching staff.

Cleveland decided during the offseason that an overhaul of all of their existing coaching was needed, and first time NFL head coach Todd Monken is leading the show with his hand-picked staff in 2026.

Following the trade of Myles Garrett, the expectations for Todd Monken in his first year changed significantly. It’s no longer a “win as much as you can” type of season, if it ever was. Now, Monken will be tasked with navigating this young roster and building toward the future.

Here’s how the Garrett trade impacts Todd Monken’s first season with the Browns.

Significant pressure is off Monken’s shoulders

It was a little over a year ago that Myles Garrett publicly announced he wanted to be traded, which didn’t last long. The Browns made him the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history shortly after and went on to break the NFL all time sack record this past season.

Now, it can be argued that Garrett’s record-breaking season skyrocketed his trade value, and the Browns had to make a difficult decision after winning eight games in two seasons with Garrett.

The coaching regime that’s responsible for those poor results are gone, and now Todd Monken and his staff will do everything they can to turn the ship around. With a young roster littered with promising pieces, the pressure is off Monken’s shoulders to produce a deep playoff run or face the music.

Todd Monken is much more likely to be a multi-year investment regardless of their results this season after this trade, because they face no pressure to get Garrett the Super Bowl ring he desires.

Of course, that’s the goal of every NFL team, but when you look at the Browns current status, they are still a few pieces away from that conversation. The quarterback situation is still undetermined and have a lot of new players looking to make their mark in their first season with Cleveland.

Monken has flexibility to experiment with roster rather than bank on Garrett

It’s no longer the Myles Garrett show in Cleveland. Now, the Browns aren’t forced to bet their marbles on him to single handedly win them football games next season and beyond.

With the addition of Jared Verse, who was a first round pick in 2024 for the Rams, their defense can be experimented with to see how good they can be with a new face on the defensive line without the constricting shadow of Garrett’s want for success.

They face no pressure to contend in 2026 and really weren’t going to before this trade. Players have the chance to earn their keep on defense and prove that they are valuable, and cheaper, options to rely on.

New defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg is an aggressive coach, and his style of coaching can’t be discredited because, “Myles isn’t being used right”, or “his scheme isn’t how Jim Schwartz’s was.” This is a new regime on defense, and there aren’t lurking expectations to contend right away.

It’s never a good idea to rely solely on one player to determine your franchise’s success. Myles was fantastic in Cleveland, but the time was right to depart and build toward the future.

This new look Browns defense and their draft capital can be used to ensure that the team will be ready to contend once their new stadium is ready in Brook Park in four years.

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