Getty

Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns

We are 10 days from knowing exactly where the Cleveland Browns stand with star pass-rusher Myles Garrett, the $160 million phenom who broke the NFL’s sack record last year, with 23.0 in a single season, and remains the best player in the league. For all Garrett’s greatness, of course, he is also a very private person and perhaps even too private for teammates and coaches–at least for the 2026 edition of the Browns.

That’s because the team has seldom seen or heard from Garrett at all this offseason, despite the fact that the team brought in a new coach and new coordinators, and that there has already been an April workout and two sets of OTAs on the docket. That’s one thing, because all the official Browns workouts to this point have been voluntary.

But coach Todd Monken’s revelation that he has yet to meet Garrett, and that his only contact with his best player has been via text, is concerning, just on a human level. Who wouldn’t want to go meet the new boss? Especially because it’s not like Garrett has been meditating in the mountains of Tibet all this time–he was at a Cavaliers playoff game, but still declined to arrange a meeting with Monken.

Browns Minicamp Will Tell Myles Garrett Future

But on June 9, the Browns will open their mandatory minicamp, and the team seems to think that Garrett will be in place for that. That is the hope, at least. If he does not show, then it will be a clear sign that he is protesting something–maybe he wants a raise or maybe he’s angry about the hiring of Monken instead of his old defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

If he’s not there, the Browns will need to start thinking about trading Garrett sooner than later. The team made a contract move on Garrett in March to push back a payment to the beginning of the season, a move that gives the team more leeway to trade him this summer. And former Browns star Joe Haden says he has just the plan to do so.

Joe Haden: Send Myles Garrett to Eagles

Haden, speaking on the “Deebo and Joe” podcast with Steelers great James Harrison, had his own three-way Browns trade pitch.

He did preface it by saying: “I’m expecting with Myles, he is gonna come during the mandatory minicamp, I am expecting Myles will be there, I am hoping that Myles is there. We’re saying, if Myles is not there, I got a scenario that, if he doesn’t for him to be gone. It’s a three-team trade. The Eagles, the Patriots and the Browns.:

In the deal, the Patriots would give up first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. The Eagles would give up their 2028 first-rounder. The Patriots would get Brown, the Eagles get Garrett and the Browns get three first-rounders.

Said Haden: “Myles Garrett is happy, AJ Brown is happy, the Patriots are happy. The Browns get three first-round picks. The Browns are happy. I like that.”

Browns Would Need More, Patriots Would Balk

If Haden had put forth a package in which the Eagles gave up two first-rounders, he might be closer to paydirt, with the Browns getting four first-rounders. It’s way too light a package for Philly to give up only a 2028 first-rounder and Brown, with Garrett coming back as the return piece.

Even then, the problem, of course, is that both the Patriots and Eagles should be good in 2027 and 2028, so their picks figure to be in the 20s. Also, the Browns getting two picks in 2028 won’t help them as much in 2027, which is when they want to make a draft move on a quarterback.

Finally, the Patriots are debating whether giving up one first-rounder for Brown–who is about to turn 29 and has chronic knee issues–is too much. Two first-rounders is out of the question. Haden may be onto something, but the idea needs a lot of work.