The Denver Broncos don't exactly have a desperate need off the EDGE heading into the 2025 offseason, but the potential of a superstar like Myles Garrett being available in a trade with the Browns should have the attention of all 31 other teams in the NFL outside of Cleveland.
A player like Myles Garrett does not become available often. In order to pry him away from Cleveland, you'd have to give up a nice haul of players and picks, something the Denver Broncos might not be overly inclined to do after the Russell Wilson trade in 2022. But any responsible GM would have to try.
So what would it take for the Broncos to get a player like Garrett off of the Browns' hands?
How much would it cost for the Broncos to trade for Myles Garrett?
There's got to be some sort of middle ground between the Khalil Mack trade in 2018 and the Von Miller trade in 2021. Let's examine both deals so I can explain.
The Bears acquired Khalil Mack from the Raiders in 2018 when Mack was 27 years old (Garrett just turned 29 in December) in exchange for two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth. The Raiders, at the time, gave up Mack, a second-round pick, and a conditional fifth.
When the Broncos traded Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams, Miller was 32 and coming off of a major knee injury the year prior. He was acquired by the Rams for a second-round pick and third-round pick in 2022.
So how do you split the difference here? Is Garrett the type of player who transcends any pre-existing trades that have gone down? The Browns are not going to be desperate to move on from their best player in franchise history, but they will be desperate. for capital soon. They got nothing out of the Deshaun Watson trade and that trade depleted their NFL Draft assets for three years, at least at the top of the draft.
They also got nothing out of the Elijah Moore trade.
Cleveland's roster is about to be gutted from the group that looked promising for a small window of time and the picks they could recoup from a Garrett trade would be a huge help for the future of the franchise. If I was Broncos GM George Paton and I was motivated to make a trade for Garrett, here would be my initial offer:
Broncos receive:
- EDGE Myles Garrett
- Conditional 2026 day three pick
Browns receive:
- EDGE Jonathon Cooper
- 2025 2nd-round pick
- 2026 1st-round pick
- 2025 4th-round pick
This gives the Browns a player in return for Garrett who is coming off of a double-digit sack season (Cooper) and someone who could help that team right away. Cooper is also under contract at a very reasonable, team-friendly rate for the next few seasons.
This deal also gives the Browns a 2nd-round pick in 2025 to work with while playing a bit of NFL Draft lottery in 2026. The reason Cleveland may want the 2026 1st-round pick instead of the 2025 1st-round pick is because they might want to take the risk that it's higher than Denver's 20th pick in 2025, plus they might be more inclined to try and move up for a QB in 2026 and they will want the extra assets.
If you're the Browns, you're probably asking the Broncos for Nik Bonitto and multiple first-round picks. You're not going to settle for anything less than a king's ransom offer to get Garrett off your hands.
Again, these are pipe dream types of scenarios. There's no indication that the Browns will actually trade Garrett (although I could see it happening) and the Broncos don't really make the most sense in terms of other teams that will be more desperate to get him. But if Denver is motivated, they could make a very compelling offer.