The Cleveland Browns have had some tough luck in the past few years.
It started with Nick Chubb’s devastating knee injury in Week 2 of the 2023 season and continued with quarterback Deshaun Watson going down with a torn Achilles this season, not to mention his inexplicably poor play prior to that injury.
The Browns had already traded away Amari Cooper and Za’Darius Smith, but now star defensive end Myles Garrett asked to be traded this week.
If Garrett does indeed get shipped out, more changes could be ahead for the team, as star Denzel Ward suggested that he could ask out as well.
“(The request) has a huge impact, honestly,” Ward told cleveland.com on radio row at Super Bowl LIX, with Garrett also making the media rounds. “I want to play with Myles Garrett. He’s a Hall of Fame player. I came in the league, he was on the team and that’s my guy. So I’ve been talking to him and I know he said he wants out, but you’ve just got to hear where he’s coming from.
When Cleveland surprised people by going 11-6 and making the playoffs last season, they did so largely behind their defense, which carried them when they went on their late-season surge.
Ward, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has arguably been the team’s second most valuable defender since then, and he has been named to four Pro Bowls.
This season, he led the NFL with 19 passes defended while adding two interceptions and notching 49 total tackles (41 solo).
An argument could be made that trading Garrett, who is 29 years of age, would be prudent for the Browns given their current situation, as they could receive some nice assets in return that they could use to rebuild.
Ward, who is 27 years of age, could also net a couple of nice assets in a trade of his own.
NEXT: Myles Garrett Hints At 1 NFL Team That He Would Join
