There was a thought that this could be the case ever since the Cleveland Browns ended their season at 3-14, but now it’s become official straight from the source. Superstar pass-rusher Myles Garrett wants out of Cleveland, and the Green Bay Packers would be wise to jump on the opportunity to bring in the generational talent to help them on their quest to win a Super Bowl.
The Packers won’t be the only team vying for Garrett’s services, of course. It’s also going to be hard to pry him away from the Browns considering he’s under contract through 2026.
We feel really good about Myles obviously as a big piece of our future. We’re looking forward to him being on the field. Like I said in my (early January) press conference, we envision him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over,” Berry had said on January 28, according to Kelsey Russo of the team website.
Berry even went as far as to say that he wouldn’t trade Garrett for two first-round picks, but one has to wonder if he feels any different about that now that the 29-year-old has publicly expressed his desire to be traded.
The Browns want Garrett to go from Cleveland to Canton (aka the NFL Hall of Fame), but Garrett wants to see a few more stops at the Super Bowl along the way. He feels he won’t be able to accomplish those goals in Cleveland anymore.
How Packers fit into this Myles Garrett situation
Green Bay absolutely needs pass-rush help and generational talents like Garrett don’t come available often. General Manager Brian Gutekunst would be wise to make sure that he throws the Packers’ hat into these sweepstakes once they open up.
Gutekunst has been risk-averse to big trades as a GM and that is the Packers’ way of doing business, but it’s not like getting a game-changing superstar like Garrett isn’t something that simply isn’t a topic of conversation at 1265 Lombardi Ave. In fact, in his season-ending press conference, Gutekunst alluded to the fact that for the right player, he would give up an appropriate-sized haul.
“If it’s the right player, 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 time, according to Bill Huber of OnSI. “But I think you have to also understand what you’re giving up. So that’s kind of my philosophy. “If that player can impact our football team in a significant way, you have to consider that.”
Gutekunst has to consider what the Packers would be giving up for Garrett, but the opportunity cost here completely sways toward whichever team it is that gets Garrett.
So what if you have to trade away two first-round picks and a young player with potential? There are several interesting edge rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft that the Packers could select, but the truth of the matter is that they’d be selecting them with the hope that they could eventually become a player like Garrett.
Sure, they’re younger, infinitely cheaper and under team control for likely a longer period of time, but none of them would bust open Green Bay’s Super Bowl window like a pass-rusher of Garrett’s caliber would.
As mentioned, the Packers are averse to taking risks and that could arguably one of the reasons they’ve been so consistently good in the modern era, but consistency does not always equal Super Bowl wins — and that’s the main goal of playing this game at this level.
In fact, the Packers are the case study for that. Few organizations in sports, let alone in the NFL, have experienced the type of consistent success that the Packers have since Brett Favre entered the scene in 1992. But between him, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love, the Packers only have two Super Bowl wins.
That’s two Super Bowl wins in 33 years. On the flip side, taking the risk and trading for Garrett could help the Packers win three Super Bowls over the next four years.
The opportunity is there and one would think that Gutekunst’s end-of-season talk would pave the way for the team taking a serious run at Garrett. Risk always comes alongside reward, but the reward is so good in this case that the risk is worth it for Green Bay.
Garrett is a six-time Pro Bowler, a four-time All-Pro and the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He’s accumulated 102.5 sacks in the past eight seasons, which is good for 14.9 per 17
