Should Seahawks pursue trade for star DE Myles Garrett?
Feb 3, 2025, 2:19 PM
One of the NFL’s most dominant players could be available on the trade market.
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Superstar defensive end Myles Garrett announced in a statement Monday that he has requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns, citing his desire to compete for a Super Bowl, according to ESPN.
Garrett, a four-time All-Pro and the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year, has spent his entire eight-year career in Cleveland. The Browns went 3-14 this past season and have only one playoff win in the past three decades.
Should the Seattle Seahawks enter the sweepstakes and pursue a trade for the 29-year-old Garrett? Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard and co-host Mike Salk discussed the idea Monday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“I’m very intrigued by this,” Salk said. “There aren’t too many players in the league right now that I would say that about, but Myles Garrett would be one of them, because of what a tone-setter he is, what a game-changer he is. He plays the run. He plays the pass. He does everything.
“So yeah, I think you absolutely need to be very, very involved in trying to bring in a star like Myles Garrett.”
Since entering the league as the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2017, Garrett has racked up 102.5 sacks. That ranks second over that span behind only Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive end T.J. Watt, according to Stathead.
The 6-foot-4, 272-pound Garrett has recorded at least 14 sacks in each of the past four seasons, totaling a league-high 60 sacks over that span. He finished third in the league with 16 sacks in 2021, tied for second with 16 in 2022, tied for seventh with 14 in 2023 and second with 14 in 2024. This past season, Garrett became the first player player since sacks became an official stat in 1982 to reach the 100-sack mark before his 29th birthday.
Since 2019, the only Seahawks player to reach double-digit sacks in a season is Leonard Williams, who achieved the feat with 11 in 2024.
Garrett has two years remaining on a record-breaking five-year, $125 million contract extension that he signed in 2020, but his deal doesn’t carry any more guaranteed money. His salary cap hit is set to be approximately $19.7 million in 2025 and roughly $20.4 million in 2026, according to Over The Cap.
“This is the one thing they’re missing (on defense) – an edge rusher superstar player who changes the game,” Salk said of the Seahawks. “… You’re talking about the premier defensive end in the game. How could you not be intrigued by that?”
Myles Garrett sends the game to halftime with his THIRD sack!#PITvsCLE on Prime Video
Also streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/0sP0TxKk62— NFL (@NFL) November 22, 2024
What would it cost?
The biggest drawback, of course, would be the massive resources the Seahawks would have to part with to swing this type of blockbuster trade.
According to a social media post from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, one NFL general manager thinks a team would have to give up both a first-round pick and a second-round pick for Garrett, or perhaps a first-round pick and two third-round picks. That GM, per Russini, added that perhaps a player could be thrown into the deal.
As Huard pointed out, the Seahawks have had some major swing-and-misses on trades where they gave up prime draft capital for a star player. In 2015, they dealt a first-round pick for tight end Jimmy Graham. And in 2020, they gave up two first-round picks for safety Jamal Adams.
Neither trade worked out well for Seattle.
“You know the challenge with this, and I can hear it already,” Huard said. “I can hear it from Orting to Omak, across the state: ‘You’ve done this. Learn your lessons. You did this with Jamal Adams. You’ve done this with trades (before).'”
However, Salk responded by saying that this move would be different than the Graham trade or the Adams trade. As he argued, a superstar pass rusher is far more valuable than a safety or a pass-catching tight end.
Salk then floated a theoretical trade, based on Russini’s insight. Step one: The Seahawks give up their No. 18 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft and a promising young edge rusher – either Boye Mafe or Derick Hall – to acquire Garrett. Step two: The Seahawks then recoup some draft capital by trading star wide receiver DK Metcalf for a first-round or second-round pick.
“You could still then have a first-rounder (or second-rounder) to use on an offensive lineman,” Salk said. “And you would be making a complete change in what your team is all about. You would be all about the line of scrimmage, which is exactly what you say you want to be.
“I think there should be some smoke and some fire here,” he added. “I think that this should be a conversation that they are very serious about having. And I think there are ways to mitigate what you would have to give up. And I think it would bring legitimate star power up front.”
Listen to the full conversation on Brock and Salk at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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