The Myles Garrett trade generated more smoke and rumors than almost any deal in recent NFL memory, and now that the dust has settled, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot is pulling back the curtain on what was actually happening behind the scenes. As it turns out, several of the teams that were loudly linked to Garrett in the days leading up to the trade were never serious players at all.
Cabot laid out exactly how things went down and who was involved.
“In the days leading up to the trade, rumors circulated that the Rams, Eagles and Cowboys were interested in Garrett, but none of those rumors were substantiated. As it turns out, the Eagles never made a play for Garrett, and the Browns would never have asked for Jalen Carter, the No. 9 overall pick and a two-time Pro Bowler. Likewise, the Browns never engaged in trade talks with the Cowboys for Garrett,” Cabot wrote.
The Eagles connection was one of the most widely discussed possibilities, with plenty of speculation about what a Garrett and Jalen Carter combination on that Philadelphia defensive line could look like. Philadelphia never actually made a move for Garrett, and the Browns had no intention of asking for Carter in a hypothetical Eagles deal anyway.
Dallas was mentioned repeatedly as a potential landing spot for Garrett. But according to Cabot, Cleveland and Dallas never even sat down at the table together to discuss a deal.
What this reporting confirms is that the Rams were the real and essentially only serious partner in these negotiations all along. The other names floating around the league were the product of the rumor cycle that surrounds any major trade.
This new report actually makes the return the Browns received even more impressive. Andrew Berry extracted Jared Verse, a first-round pick, a second, and a third from the Rams without the leverage of a genuine competing offer from Philadelphia or Dallas.
The lesson here is that the noise surrounding a blockbuster trade rarely reflects what is actually happening in the negotiating room. Berry knew what he had, knew what he wanted, and got it done with the one team that was actually serious from the start.
NEXT: Analyst Explains Why Myles Garrett Trade Could Backfire On Rams
