Any watcher of the last season of Hard Knocks knows how much Myles Garrett means to the Browns. There may not be another player on the current roster who best resembles the tough, gritty Browns mentality and the rough and tough city of Cleveland, Ohio.
The news from earlier today that he is requesting to be traded is a devastating blow if the Browns opt to go in that direction, and his presence as both a player and leader in the locker room will be hard to replace if the Browns let him go.
General manager Andrew Berry stated at the Senior Bowl that he will not entertain any offers for Garrett to be traded, which is reasonable: the All-Pro defensive end had 47 total tackles and 14 sacks on a struggling Browns team. But if he goes, who will the Browns replace him with?
Cleveland holds the No. 2 overall pick of the draft: they could replace him with Penn State DE Abdul Carter, Tennessee’s James Pearce or Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer. One can only imagine how good the Browns would be on defense if Garrett would stay in Cleveland while the Browns opted to take one of those players, giving them a great one-two punch on defense.
Replacing Myles Garrett would be extremely difficult for the Cleveland Browns, as he’s one of the top pass rushers in the NFL and a dominant force on their defense. His combination of size, speed, and ability to disrupt the quarterback is rare. While the Browns could certainly try to find another elite pass rusher through the draft or free agency, there’s no guarantee they’d find someone who can match Garrett’s impact.
They might look for a more strategic, collective approach, like bolstering their defensive line depth or improving their overall pass rush unit to compensate. But Garrett is a generational talent, so his level of production would be hard to replicate exactly. What are your thoughts on the Browns’ defense?
