The Green Bay Packers might be a game-wrecking pass-rusher away from being title worthy, and the modern day version of Reggie White just asked for a trade out of Cleveland.
On Monday, six-time All-Pro Myles Garrett officially announced his request to be traded by the Browns.
From Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:
Breaking: Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and #Browns star Myles Garrett has requested a trade.
Exclusive statement: pic.twitter.com/LgS5YCeCnP
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 3, 2025
In 1993, White shocked the NFL world by signing a free-agent contract with the Packers. He teamed up with Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren in Green Bay and eventually led the Packers to a Super Bowl title in 1996.
Could Garrett do the same for Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur over three decades later?
The situations aren’t perfectly symmetrical. Most importantly, White was a free agent, and Garrett is under contract and would require a trade to acquire. And the potential trade is a complicated one, considering a deal will likely take multiple first-round picks going to Cleveland to accomplish. And here’s the kicker: Garrett will likely require a new, market-setting contract once he’s traded to a new team.
Would general manager Brian Gutekunst be willing to risk the team’s top draft capital for years into the future and sign Garrett to a huge contract just a year after helping reset the quarterback market with Love’s new deal?
It would be the kind of risky, high stakes move the Packers rarely make. In fact, Gutekunst recently talked about why he doesn’t like to trade high draft picks for established veterans on big deals, citing the loss of a young player on a cheap contract and the addition of an older player on a considerably bigger deal, but he also mentioned he wouldn’t rule out such a trade for one of the game’s top players. And Garrett is undeniably one of the NFL’s best defensive players.
The first overall pick in 2017, Garrett has made four first-team All-Pro teams and two second-team All-Pro teams in just eight NFL seasons, and he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 (and could be again in 2024). Garrett has produced 102.5 sacks, 20 forced fumbles and 200 quarterback hits in just 117 career games.
Still only 29 years old, and a physical specimen, Garrett likely has many more terrific years in him. Keep in mind, White was in his age-32 season when he arrived in Green Bay, and he made six straight Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams while with the Packers between 1993 and 1998.
Of course, any trade requires the Browns to tango, and it’s possible their dire salary cap situation will make a trade untenable.
The Packers acquiring Garrett would be a game-changing move nearing the historical significance of signing White in the 1990s, but a trade must still be seen as unlikely. We’ll see if any reporting surfaces on the Packers’ interest in talking about a deal with the Browns in the near future.