What Would It Take for Packers to Trade for Myles Garrett?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When Jeff Hafley took over as Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, he envisioned a potent four-man pass rush including former first-round picks Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt and Lukas Van Ness.

Instead, Hafley had to get creative to create a pass rush that ranked eighth in sacks but 16th in pressure percentage.

“I’ve never seen a quarterback that can complete a pass when he’s on his back,” coach Matt LaFleur said at the end of the season.

There might not be a player in the NFL better at putting quarterbacks on their back than Cleveland Browns All-Pro Myles Garrett. Garrett asked for a trade this week, and while the Browns have said they will not trade their face-of-the-franchise superstar, it’s impossible to believe Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst won’t test the waters with his counterpart in Cleveland, Andrew Berry.

“If you feel like he can be a dynamic player who can change your football team, I think you’ve got to consider that, because there’s not many of those guys out there,” Gutekunst said at the end of the season.

What would the Packers have to give up to acquire the closest thing possible to a modern-day Reggie White?

A trade of a defensive player of Garrett’s magnitude is practically unprecedented. The only semi-recent parallel was the Bears trading Khalil Mack to the Raiders in 2018. The Raiders received two first-round picks as well as selections in the third and sixth rounds while the Bears received Mack as well as picks in the second and fifth rounds.

At the time of the trade, Mack was 27 and coming off three consecutive seasons of 10-plus sacks. Garrett is 29 and is coming off a seventh consecutive season of 10-plus sacks, including five consecutive seasons of 12-plus sacks, a feat matched only by Lawrence Taylor in NFL history.

Mack was a great player. In 11 seasons, he has 107.5 career sacks and 185 quarterback hits. Garrett is an elite player. In eight seasons, he has 102.5 sacks and 200 quarterback hits.

Packers On SI reached out to three NFL executives. They agreed it would take at least two first-round picks and something else in addition. The “something else” part will be significant, they agreed, since all first-round picks aren’t created equal.

The Packers will pick 23rd this year after picking 25th last year. With Garrett, the Packers presumably would be picking toward the bottom of the first round again in 2026 and 2027. They haven’t had a top-10 pick since 2009.

For what it’s worth, the Las Vegas Raiders are the betting favorite to acquire Garrett. They own the sixth pick of this year’s draft, so the Packers would have to sweeten the pot considerably.

Using this trade-value chart, the No. 6 pick is worth 446 points and the No. 23 pick is worth 245 points. That’s a difference of 201 points, or the equivalent of the 29th pick of the draft. From that perspective, the Packers almost would have to give up three first-round picks or two firsts and a quality player.

One executive thought two first-round picks and Lukas Van Ness – the 13th pick of the 2023 draft – would be “the starting point.” Van Ness would give the Browns a young and inexpensive player who could step into their lineup.

It’d be worth it, the executives agreed, because Garrett is such a dominant player. Over the last four seasons, he is No. 1 in the NFL with 60 sacks, No. 2 with 74 tackles for losses and tied for No. 2 with 117 quarterback hits.

In 2024, Garrett had 83 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. By comparison, Green Bay’s three top defensive ends from last season, Rashan Gary, Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare, had 92.

Trading Garrett, who is under contract through 2026, would be difficult for the Browns, who are about $38 million over the cap and would fall deeper into the hole by trading Garrett. But it wouldn’t be impossible, as outlined by Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, who referenced Aaron Rodgers getting a restructured contract to facilitate his trade from the Packers to the Jets.

In an e-mail to Packers On SI, Fitzgerald wrote, “Any team that trades for Garrett would likely rip up the old contract and negotiate a new one.”

The option bonuses, which are a sticking point on the current contract from Cleveland’s perspective, almost certainly would be eliminated.

The Packers would then use their typical signing-bonus-driven structure. Nick Bosa’s five-year, $170 million contract extension with the 49ers included a $50 million signing bonus; Fitzgerald thought Garrett would get in the neighborhood of a $55 million signing bonus along with roster bonuses in 2026 and 2027.

“The cap hit for this year would probably be around $13 million this year if that was the contract structure,” Fitzgerald wrote.

That’s a lot of money and a lot of draft capital, but Garrett is one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL. It would be practically impossible for the Packers to ever draft a player of his magnitude while picking at the bottom of the first round every year.

After missing out on the playoffs in six of his eight seasons, Garrett almost certainly would welcome a trade to a team like the Packers.

As he said after tying Taylor’s record streak of 12-sack seasons, “That’s a nice accomplishment, but we remember LT because he won. He did all those things, and I want to get to winning.”

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For entertainment purposes only, obviously, but here are the next-team odds for ...

Myles Garrett: https://t.co/3v7lDY08G1

Cooper Kupp: https://t.co/j3ZBCyF7rq
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) February 5, 2025