Chargers mentioned in wild Myles Garrett, Deshaun Watson trade idea

It should go without saying that the Los Angeles Chargers should have an interest in trading for Cleveland Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett.

It should also dramatically go without saying that the Chargers should not, in fact, be interested in acquiring Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson for many, many reasons.

Alas, the Chargers were just name-dropped by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio as one of the few teams boasting the cap space capable of pulling off his wacky trade idea. Essentially, the idea is that the Browns will only trade Garrett to a team willing to take on Watson’s ridiculous fully guaranteed contract:

“If, of course, a new team takes Watson as part of a Garrett trade, the Deshaun Tax would reduce the draft-pick compensation and/or the new team’s willingness to give Garrett a market-value contract. But if the Browns could engineer the same kind of competition that the Texans finagled three years ago — with four teams (Browns, Panthers, Falcons, Saints) pre-approved to negotiate with Watson — the Browns could include Watson’s albatross contract in the minimal asking price for permission to talk to Garrett.”

The idea here is that a team like the Chargers swoops in, gets Garrett and quickly moves on from Watson (while also attempting to explain it to fans). That, combined with possibly getting the Browns to eat some of his contract to make it work.

For the Browns, it would be a dream come true to wiggle out of the Watson mistake and acquire draft assets alongside the cap space. Losing Garrett, not so much, but he’s intent on leaving, anyway.

For the Chargers, though, the cap investment would be just too much, even with roughly $65 million in free cap space before any other moves that add to that total. It’s enticing to think of creative ways to get Garrett on the team, but it would mean likely losing Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack at the same time.

Watson projects to miss all of 2025 and has a no-trade clause, too, so he’ll likely only accept a deal if he gets every penny of the $230 million contract.

Effectively, this is a non-starter of an idea for the Chargers – but it does help to illustrate where the desperate Browns might be at in terms of thinking about surrendering Garrett to a contender, especially in the AFC.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson — Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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