When Cardinals, Myles Garrett Trade Could Happen

Cleveland Browns star pass rusher Myles Garrett went public with his trade request earlier this week, and the Arizona Cardinals have been pegged as one of the top landing spots for his services.

The fit makes sense for the Cardinals, as Arizona is in dire need of a star player within their front seven - more notably a pass rusher - to elevate not just their defense but entire team to the next level after narrowly missing the postseason in 2024.

As for Garrett, the Cardinals don't exactly fit the Super Bowl contender label he was very clear about when requesting a trade from Cleveland, though Arizona would be much closer to that goal with him, and they're arguably a much better fit than Cleveland in that aspect.

The Cardinals surely will make calls on Garrett and should be in the mix - but even if a trade were to materialize between the two sides, when would a deal happen?

OverTheCap says a deal may have to wait until after the draft to help Cleveland's cap situation:

"The easier path for the Browns would be to wait until after the draft to make a trade when they can use the rules for June 1 salary cap treatment to their advantage. The problems with that are that they would have to pay him $5 million as an option bonus in the interim and they would receive zero compensation this year for him. For a rebuilding team that might not be an issue but the Browns don’t likely look at themselves as rebuilding, they simply see themselves as needing a QB with a pulse to compete with a pretty expensive roster.

"If the Browns opted for that path the cost to trade would be either $15.6M in dead money if the remainder of the option was removed from the contract or $18.43M if it was not removed with an offset of the difference coming in 2026. The team would then defer $25.5M of dead money to 2026 when it will be easier to digest on the cap.

"The team acquiring Garrett if a trade was made in the summer would be responsible for $14.8M this year and $25M next year. In theory they can manipulate the cap hits however they want, but in reality they will likely be extending Garrett. A market for a player like Garrett is a bit of an unknown. He is the best defensive lineman in football but will turn 30 at the end of the 2025 season. In the interim some data points could be found if the Steelers extend TJ Watt, but given the recent contracts signed by Aaron Donald and Chris Jones my expectation would be in the ballpark of $35 million a season on a three year extension.

"Given the nature of the trade request, age, and likely extension that would come with this I doubt that the Browns would be looking at a massive haul of multiple 1st round picks. They certainly should get one first round pick for him but after that it is probably a mid round pick with some kind of escalation conditions."

Would the Cardinals be able to wait on that deal?

Edge rusher is arguably the team's top need entering the offseason, and the Cardinals can't afford to pass on other players (Josh Sweat has been linked to Arizona in free agency while the draft is deep for pass rushers) and ultimately miss on a deal for Garrett.

It's still very early in the process and the Browns have publicly stated they won't be trading Garrett, though that is easily posturing done by Cleveland. If their star wants out, it looks like he'll be playing elsewhere given where he and the Browns are at in their respective timelines.