Browns GM Andrew Berry says he didn’t plan to trade Myles Garrett, and wasn’t shopping him, and Garrett didn’t repeat his request to be traded to a Super Bowl contender.
So how did it come about that Berry did trade the two-time NFL defensive player-of-the-year, the longest-tenured member of the Browns, holder of the NFL single-season sack record, a future Hall of Famer, arguably the greatest defensive player in team history, and a player that Berry formed an emotional bond with over nine years?
The answer, if you believe Berry, is … Jared Verse.
The Los Angeles Rams were one of several teams that analyzed Berry’s modification of Garrett’s contract in late March as an invitation to trade for him. They targeted Garrett at that time.
After the draft, the Rams began pestering Berry about a trade for Garrett. Berry had not prepared for a trade of Garrett by securing a young edge rusher in the draft or in free agency. So Berry insisted that Verse, an ascending edge rusher on a rookie contract, the 2024 NFL rookie defensive player-of-the-year, had to be included in the deal.
When the Rams finally relented last weekend, and included Verse in their trade package of a first-round pick in 2027, second-round pick in 2028, and third-round pick in 2029, Berry made the trade with the approval of owner Jimmy Haslam.
Garrett turns 31 on December 29. Verse turns 26 on November 4.
Thus ended a 17-month drama that began at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans when Garrett launched an unprecedented campaign along Media Row, telling anyone and everyone how much he wanted out of Cleveland to play for a winning team. The Browns subsequently hushed up Garrett with a new, four-year contract for $160 million, including more than $123 million guaranteed.
But after another losing (5-12) season, no clarity at quarterback, and the departure of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who took Garrett to new heights, Garrett’s desire to leave intensified.
“I always told myself that if we were ever in a position where were going to trade Myles, three things would have to be true,” Berry said. “Number one, it would have to have short- and long-term benefits. Number two, as part of the trade, a young cost-control star at a premium position would have to be included. The third piece is that there would have to be premium draft capital, and there’s a very small set of deals that really satisfy those constraints.
“So, when it got to the point with our negotiations with the Rams, when all those things were satisfied, it really caused us to take a step back and really think about the decision.
“Jared Verse, he’s obviously a huge part of this return for us. Jared is an outstanding football player, former defensive rookie-of-the-year, two-time original ballot Pro Bowler. He’s a perfect DNA match for our attacking front. He’s really a terror in both phases, both as a run defender and a pass rusher, and we are really, really excited to add him to our team. He allows us to continue to play defense as a high level, which has been our standard over the past several seasons.”
Mixed messages
Berry said the plan wasn’t to trade Garrett, until he did.
Berry said the plan wasn’t to trade the No. 2 overall pick in 2025, until he did.
Berry said the plan wasn’t to draft two quarterbacks in 2025, until he did.
Berry said the plan wasn’t to trade Joe Flacco one month into the 2025 season, until he did.
Let’s face it: the Browns’ real plan is — and should be — to collect assets to make a run at one of the top quarterbacks expected to be available in the 2027 draft. An extra first-round pick – even one as low as possibly No. 32 if the Rams win the Super Bowl – would help Berry maneuver the Browns in position to take one of the heralded QBs expected in the 2027 draft.
But Berry won’t even acknowledge that.
“We’re way too premature to figure out how we’re going to deploy that asset,” he claimed. “We’ve got an entire season to play. We’ve got a group of players that we’re really excited to see this fall and, you know, we’ll deal with 2027 in 2027.”
Stuck in the middle?
The Browns seem to be caught in the middle of wanting to win but needing to position themselves for a legitimate chance at drafting a top quarterback in 2027.
It’s tough to sell fans on wanting to win after trading the best defensive player in the league. But Berry recoiled at the very mention of the word “tanking.”
“All of our goals are still in front of us,” he said. “We have an excellent defense with really good players on all three levels. And Jared, he’s an outstanding [edge rusher]. He’s one of the best players in the game and so we’re excited to have him as a part of our team.”
Berry has intentionally made the roster younger over the past two offseasons, but he doesn’t believe the Browns are caught between winning and earning an optimum draft position.
“I don’t,” he said. “And I guess I maybe go back to what I mentioned this spring. I don’t necessarily agree with the implicit assumption that younger means worse.”
Schwartz speaks
In his first public comments since resigning as defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz said he was disappointed about being passed over for the Browns head coach job, but not upset. But he could not stay on as part of a “forced marriage” with new coach Todd Monken.
“We had a lot of success on defense and the Browns made a change at head coach and they passed over me, with all the success that we had and the ability to develop players,” Schwartz said on The Ryan Ripken Show. “Our best players had their best years. All those different things. And that was the decision they made. They wanted to go with an offensive guy, they chose Todd. I’m fine with that. They can make decisions that they want to make.
“But they can’t expect me to stay on board for that. Anybody that’s in any business, you get passed over for a promotion when you’ve done a really, really good job in your job, and you think you were in line for that promotion, it’s time to go.
“And Todd deserved his own guy. A forced marriage isn’t going to work in the NFL. Having command of the players and having command of the locker room, all those things are extremely important. And I didn’t feel like I could do my job after getting passed over for that coaching job.
“It sort of put me in tough position. ‘Hey we want you to listen to this guy, but we didn’t make him the head coach.’ So I made the decision to resign. And I have to sit out this year as a result. But I think anybody that’s been in any business when you’ve done a good job – we weren’t one of the best defenses in three years, we were the best defense in three years. The decision they made, that’s their decision. But to expect me to stay and me be on board for that, that’s just a tough situation. It wouldn’t have been good for me and it wouldn’t have been good for Todd.
“So it was best for him to get his own guy in there to move forward with him as opposed to having an arranged marriage and having me there and maybe having some players more loyal to me than him. It could just be a bad situation. Thirty-three years in the NFL, I’ve never been around that before. So, that all went into the decision. I wasn’t upset about it, I was disappointed. My experience told me that wasn’t going to be a situation that would work.”
Ripken is the son of Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr.
Schwartz response is just as I expected. This is exactly how it works in the corporate world.
56 Years as a Browns fan. when can I once again hold my head up High? I just keep telling my friends here in Fl. ” Someone has to Love Them “