What type of deal can the Patriots pull off to land Myles Garrett?
Myles Garrett sounded the alarm that he wants out from the Cleveland Browns. Garrett took to social media to ask for a trade on Monday. The All-Pro edge rusher officially rises as the hottest trade candidate for the NFL offseason, and the New England Patriots should be plotting ahead.
“While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent,” Garrett wrote in his statement. “The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”
Why Patriots fit Myles Garrett
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The Patriots are beyond healthy in salary cap space. The franchise has more than $120 million in cap room for 2025. That figure gives the Pats the most salary cap space among NFL teams this offseason, per Over the Cap.
Garrett’s contract contains a $19.7 million cap hit. Plus, it comes with more than $36.2 million in dead cap according to Spotrac.
New England has the financial flexibility to take on Garrett’s massive deal. But they can attempt to restructure his contract and add intriguing pieces around Garrett.
The Patriots have their selling points for Garrett. New head coach Mike Vrabel comes with his own edge rushing background as a versatile Super Bowl-winning defender in Foxborough. Vrabel will be relatable to the Browns star.
New England’s new coaching leader isn’t just a franchise legend. Vrabel owns a strong history of producing playoff teams, including one AFC title-game run, at his last stop with Tennessee.
But there’s more elements the Pats can use in their potential recruiting sales pitch to Garrett. New England has its quarterback of the future in Drake Maye — who completed 66.6% of his throws and tossed 15 touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions.
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez is one other young building block for the Patriots. He’ll need a dominating pass rusher to increase his interceptions and pass breakup totals moving forward.
Lastly, the Patriots enter the 2025 NFL Draft with deep draft capital. They have nine draft picks for the upcoming April event thanks to previous trade deals with the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, and Los Angeles Chargers. New England even holds eight selections for the 2026 draft. New England has options to sacrifice on the draft side.
What’s the perfect trade the Patriots can pull for Myles Garrett?
Cleveland likely wants a boatload for Garrett as the Browns soon listen to trade offers. High draft picks likely get sacrificed here. Still, the Patriots have lots of leverage to pull off a trade for Garrett.
The Browns already hold the No. 2-overall selection come April 25 in Green Bay. Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry, head coach Kevin Stefanski, and company can add one more top-five pick by shipping Garrett to N.E.
Cleveland can use the No. 4 pick to take Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter as Garrett’s replacement. But this trade doesn’t just involve the fourth-overall selection on New England’s side.
The Browns can entertain adding New England’s first rounder for 2026 to make the deal more enticing. The Patriots then can keep their 38th pick in the second round but send their 69th selection in the third round to sweeten this deal.
So to recap: New England offers its 2025 and 2026 first-rounders, plus its 2025 third-round pick at No. 69 to Cleveland for Garrett. The Browns additionally earn a third selection during the 2025 third round along with the first-rounders to rebuild their roster.
Garrett is still playing at a high level. He delivered his second-straight 14-sack campaign this past season. Garrett has produced an astonishing seven-straight seasons of hitting double-digit sacks. He’s going to command a high trade market, including involving first-round draft capital from teams.
New England has the flexibility to pull off this move and show Vrabel’s seriousness in rebuilding the Pats into a rebounding force in the NFL once again.