Myles Garrett Trade Gives Browns Their Best Path to a Franchise Quarterback

The Cleveland Browns traded Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in a trade that could help the organization solve their biggest problem.

Sep 7, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) greet each other after a game at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

After trading away a generational defensive end in Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns fans are left with one, familiar thing.

Hope.

When sorting through the winners and losers of Monday’s blockbuster trade with the Rams, it’s easy to see what everyone gets. Garrett gets a chance to compete for a title with the Rams, who will be favored to win the NFC. New Browns coach Todd Monken gets Jared Verse, a suitable replacement who has been to two Pro Bowls in his first two seasons in the NFL. General manager Andrew Berry gets three draft picks to rebound from the colossal failure that has been the Deshaun Watson trade.

So, what exactly do the fans get?

Well, they will get to watch their team take a step backwards defensively. They’ll hopefully watch Cleveland’s young talent take a step in the right direction on a team that likely won’t compete for the NFL Playoffs. As that unfolds, fans will cling to 2027 NFL mock drafts, where the Browns will now have two first-round picks. 

And even though there’s a lot of cold, dark winter days that separate Cleveland fans from the 2027 draft at the end of next April, Browns fans will sell themselves on the hope that their long-awaited franchise quarterback is in next year’s draft class.

Could the Browns finally find a QB in 2027?

The Browns have been wandering the quarterback desert since they returned in 1999. They’ve tried everything. No. 1 overall picks like Tim Couch and Baker Mayfield couldn’t cut it. Mid-round picks like Cody Kessler and DeShone Kizer were too easy to give up on due to a lack of investment. Veteran quarterbacks like Robert Griffin III and Jeff Garcia couldn’t recreate early-career magic. Most recently, mortgaging three first-round picks for a top-five quarterback and MVP candidate in Watson hasn’t worked.

But trading Garrett gives the Browns a runway into their future, the 2027 quarterback class.

At the NFL Combine in Indianapolis a few months ago, several anonymous NFL personnel sources anonymously told the BIGPLAY Sports Network that the 2027 class was expected to be the real deal. Premier quarterbacks like Arch Manning, Dante Moore and LaNorris Sellers all opted for another season of college football, and they’re expected to stand the test of time unlike Garrett Nussmeier and Cade Klubnik this time last year. 

Teams were hesitant to trade 2027 draft capital in April because of how good next year’s class is expected to be. The Browns join the rebuilding New York Jets as teams with multiple first round selections that could be targeting quarterbacks. 

Berry wouldn’t comment on the team’s ongoing quarterback crisis on Tuesday after trading Garrett to the Rams. Why would he? For this season, the team is stuck letting Watson compete against Shedeur Sanders to be Cleveland’s quarterback. The nod is expected to go to Watson, who is owed the final $46 million sum of his disastrous contract. 

But after this season? The Browns would be naive – and flat out lying – if they said they didn’t have an eye on the 2027 quarterback class. Berry has previously stated that the team begins homework on all positions, but especially quarterbacks, more than a year in advance.

They’ve likely already done a ton of work on Manning and Moore. Trading Garrett gives the Browns a realistic pathway to drafting a quarterback in the top of next year’s class. Even if the defense is average with Verse in the mix and the offense takes a step forward under new head coach Todd Monken, there’s a definite ceiling on what the Browns can achieve in 2026, especially without Garrett. 

Even if the Browns don’t lose their way into the No. 1 overall selection next season, having a bonus first round selection (plus two more future picks in 2028 and 2029) could be used as ammunition to move up the draft board. Or, the Browns would be able to use that extra selection on another position of need, similarly to how they used the Jacksonville Jaguars' selection on wide receiver KC Concepcion.

Garrett said it best during his berating of the Browns organization in last year’s trade request – until you have a franchise quarterback, you have nothing in the NFL. 

Garrett had 23 sacks last year and the team won five games. 

He wasn’t throwing touchdowns, but maybe the Browns can use this trade to finally find someone who can.