The Cleveland Browns‘ decision to extend star pass rusher Myles Garrett is drawing fresh scrutiny, with critics calling it a missed opportunity to stockpile future assets during a rebuild.
Garrett went public with a trade demand during Super Bowl week, citing that he wanted to play for a contender and compete for a championship. The dispute came to an end when the Browns offered Garrett a four-year, $160 million extension, making him the highest-paid defender in the league.
Seth Walder of ESPN was not a fan of the move, saying the Browns missed out on a prime opportunity to improve for the future.
“Not every move fit into the rebuilding thesis — most notably, the Garrett extension,” Walder wrote. “I criticized the move at the time and feel the same now. This was a missed opportunity for Cleveland to turn Garrett — a Browns legend but also heading into the latter half of his career — into future assets. Instead, they handed Garrett a huge contract, burning his value in 2025 (and perhaps beyond) when the Browns aren’t contenders. The Browns are not in a good cap position and could have used the financial savings, too.”
Walder: Kenny Pickett Trade is Head-Scratcher
Another move Walder disliked was Cleveland’s trade for quarterback Kenny Pickett, who is now part of a four-man quarterback competition.
“The Pickett trade was also a head-scratcher,” Walder said. “The Browns didn’t know they were going to draft two quarterbacks when they dealt for him, but they still gave up more for him than the Eagles did a year ago, even though Pickett didn’t show anything to improve his value during the 2024 season.”
As Walder notes, drafting two quarterbacks was not part of the initial offseason playbook for the Browns. However, when Shedeur Sanders slid to the fifth round, it became an opportunity they wouldn’t pass on.
“We felt like it wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks,” Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters after the draft. “But as we talk about, we do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round. We love adding competition to every position room and adding him to compete with the guys that are already in there. We felt like that was the appropriate thing to do.”
It wasn’t all bad from Walder. He gave the Browns a B-plus for their offseason moves, citing their trade down from No. 2 to No. 5 as his favorite move to build for the future.
Browns Need to Figure Out Quarterback Situation
The Browns collected another first-round pick in 2026 thanks to their trade back at the top of the draft. Cleveland now has two first-round picks to work with next offseason, which could be used to find their quarterback of the future.
But first, the Browns have to figure out what they have in Sanders and third-round rookie passer Dillon Gabriel. Cleveland has not established a pecking order between their four passers, which includes Sanders, Gabriel, Pickett and 40-year-old Joe Flacco.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski stressed during minicamp that the team is still in the evaluation process and have not established a depth chart.
“We’re so far away from that type of thought process,” Stefanski said in June. “It’s the offseason, it’s OTAs, so we’re going to keep the focus there. Once you get into training camp, of course you’re getting ready to play games and ultimately getting ready for playing the season. But right now that’s not our focus.”
Training camp for the Browns will kick off later this month, with rookies reporting on July 18.
