Browns Clips
The Browns are picking up some additional draft picks by trading Myles Garrett.
Could they use one of their future picks to select a quarterback in the supplemental draft?
If head coach Todd Monken has his way, Cleveland will stay far away from quarterback Brendan Sorsby if he declares.
Sorsby, whose representation is currently arguing to have his college football eligibility temporarily reinstated, could subsequently declare for the supplemental draft this summer if that request is denied.
Monken told reporters on Monday that he hasn’t been kept in the loop on how the Browns’ personnel staff, led by G.M. Andrew Berry, is evaluating Sorsby. But either way, he’s not interested.
“I mean, that’s not even come across my desk. I don’t think we’re in a position to want to go down that road. That’s my option, not Andrew’s,” Monken said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “I like the quarterbacks that we have. I think that’s a slippery slope, when you go down that [path] — irrespective of talent — in terms of the situation he’s put himself in. We all know what that is. He put himself in that situation. And we’ve seen in other sports with players that have been banned for life from playing in professional sports.
“I think that’s a slippery slope to go down that road. Again, that’s a question for Andrew and for management. But from my end of it, kind of a tough angle to go down that road and think that’s going to be your franchise quarterback — if he’s ever eligible to even play in the NFL.”
As of now, there’s been no indication that the NFL would prevent Sorsby from playing at the pro level.
The Browns currently have Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel ostensibly competing to become their QB1 in 2026, with Watson appearing to be in the proverbial pole position at the start of June.
“I anticipate there still being competition,” Monken said. “That doesn’t mean that the reps will be equal. That’s the easiest way to put it. I think we’re in a good place right now with our quarterback room. All of the guys that are in there are working hard and I like the level of talent that we have in there. But the next six days will go a long way into how we go into fall camp.”
Is Myles Garrett really headed to the Rams?
At this point, everything indicates the answer to that question is a resounding yes.
But the trade is not complete quite yet.
Browns General Manager Andrew Berry spoke to assembled media at the organization’s charity golf event on Monday, just after reports of the deal surfaced on social media.
“Real quick, obviously we wanted today to be about the Browns foundation and everything that we’re doing, the good work we’re doing there. Not naive that there’s a lot in the social media sphere, media sphere regarding Myles. Nothing is final at this point,” Berry said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “We are in discussions of a potential transaction including him. I’ll have a lot more to say about it once it is final — if it does become final. And I’ll discuss the details at that point. But we are in negotiations. We’re hopeful that we close something here in the next several hours. But nothing is final right yet.
“Like I said, I’ll have an update for you guys maybe as soon as tomorrow when there’s resolution.”
Berry did not answer a couple of follow-up questions to his statement, noting that was all he had to say on the matter right now.
The fact that reports surfaced on social media is an indication that the deal is, as a practical matter, going to be executed. But it will not be completely official until compensation is agreed to and Garrett passes his physical.
There’s no reason to believe Garrett would not pass a physical at this point.
At present, reporting indicates the Browns will trade Garrett to the Rams in exchange for edge rusher a 2027 first-round pick, edge rusher Jared Verse, and additional draft compensation.
Yes, the arrival of June 1 could mean a trade of veterans other than A.J. Brown.
Per multiple reports, the Browns are trading defensive end Myles Garrett to the Rams. Cleveland will receive defensive end Jared Verse, a first-round pick, and more.
The deal will happen after 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, allowing the Browns to divide the cap charge over two league years.
Yes, the Browns had said they won’t be trading Garrett. But words are merely words. The most significant action taken this offseason was the agreement to delay a $29.2 million option bonus from March until September.
Earlier in the day, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer planted a flag regarding a potential trade: "[I]t now seems as though there might be some fire where the smoke is coming from in regards to the possibility of Garrett being moved.” She cited the Rams, Cowboys, and Eagles are teams “rumored to have interest” in Garrett, “but nothing has been substantiated.”
It now has been.
The transaction would likely include a new deal for Garrett. When he signed his latest contract in 2025, he set a new bar with a new-money average of $40 million annually. That has since shot to $50 million, thanks to the Will Anderson Jr. deal in Houston.
Either way, the 2025 defensive player of the year will get what he has always wanted — a chance to compete for a Super Bowl run.
With the calendar flipped to June, there is more smoke around the possibility that the Browns could trade NFL sack king Myles Garrett.
Head coach Todd Monken noted recently that he had not yet spoken with Garrett since being hired in January. Garrett customarily does not attend Cleveland’s offseason program, but after he and the team agreed to modified language in his contract that makes it easier for the club to trade him, there’s reason to speculate that more could be going on here.
Monken was asked about Garrett and whether or not he’s been guaranteed the defensive end would be on the roster in 2026.
“No, I wasn’t assured that when I took the job,” Monken said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “I was never assured of anything when I took the job, other than once I signed my contract, whatever my contract said — that’s what I was assured. No matter what, any of us coaches sign up for is we show up every day and we coach the guys in the building like we’ve done since we’ve been here. That hasn’t changed.
“He’s not [unlike] any other player. I’m never told who’s going to be on the team, who’s not going to be on the team,” Monken added. “If that’s a question, I mean, every day we evaluate the roster — Andrew [Berry] evaluates the roster, management evaluates the roster. And, like I said, he’s no different than any other player we’ve got. So, I don’t know how to respond to that, because it’s really no different today than it’s been for the last however many months I’ve been the head coach.”
Garrett, 30, requested a trade during the 2025 offseason before electing to re-sign with the Browns on a lucrative new deal. He then proceeded to set the single-season sack record at 23.0, winning his second AP defensive player of the year award in the last three seasons.
Not only did Garrett lead the league in sacks, but he was also No. 1 with 33 tackles for loss.
We’ll see if the speculation turns into a reality with a Garrett trade over the coming days.
Shed no tears for Shedeur Sanders and his 2025 draft-day free fall.
The recent LM-2 filed by the NFL Players Association reveals that Sanders, through his SS2 Legendary LLC, received more than $17.7 million from the NFLPA from May 2025 through February 2026.
The number was first reported by Daniel Kaplan in an item for Front Office Sports. Per Kaplan, that figure shatters the prior one-year record of $9.5 million, held by Tom Brady.
PFT has confirmed the number, which appears in the union’s voluminous annual federal filing.
The document reflects thirteen different payments for “royalties/player marketing” to SS2 Legendary, totaling $17,712,015. The biggest payment was made on May 16, 2025, in the amount of $9,241,318. The second-largest payment — $2,086,563 — was made on January 23, 2026.
Most player royalty through the NFLPA come from group licensing deals, which compensate players for jersey sales, trading cards, video games, and other collectibles. As one source suggested, the $9.24 million payment to Sanders in May 2025 may have reflected his individual trading-card guarantee — something that likely would have been negotiated before he slipped from round one to round five in the 2025 draft.
Regardless, the $17.7 million Sanders made in royalties for one year dwarfs the total, four-year value of his rookie contract ($4.647 million). The payment also exceeds the full four-year contract signed by Packers receiver Matthew Golden ($17.575 million), the 23rd pick in round one last year.
Sanders could have a large payment in next year’s LM-2, too. In March, Sanders changed his number from 12 to 2; any jerseys that fueled his royalty payments for his first NFL season will need to be replaced.
At this point, a post-June 1 trade of Eagles receiver A.J. Brown should be expected. The changing of the calendar from May to June opens the door to other possible trades.
The benefit comes from the ability to spread the dead-money charge over multiple seasons. This makes it more attractive for high-profile players with big-money contracts to be moved to a new team after June 1.
The biggest name that potentially lands in the post-June 1 trade category (other than Brown) is Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Last month, we reviewed the mixed signals emanating from Cleveland as to whether that could happen.
His recent contract restructuring delayed his annual option bonus until seven days before the start of the regular season. With the Browns not required to pay Garrett $29.2 million by March 15, that instantly became a factor pointing toward a potential move.
After June 1, a trade would actually create cap space for the Browns by sending Garrett’s 2026 option bonus and his 2026 salary to a new team, leaving behind only his 2026 bonus proration ($15.534 million) on the books this year. Any remaining cap charge would move to 2027, offset by the unloading of his 2027 cap number if he were still on the team.
So, yes, Garrett’s deal becomes tradable after June 1 — even though the Browns have insisted he won’t be traded.
Other veterans become easier to trade from a cap standpoint after June 1. The most obvious post-June 1 trade candidate is Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who has been supplanted by the arrival of Travis Etienne.
The Cardinals, who paid defensive end Josh Sweat a guaranteed option bonus of $7.22 million in March, could trade him after June 1 and push $16.515 million in cap charges into 2027. (They’re reportedly getting calls about Sweat, who has been absent from offseason workouts.)
A trade of Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby remains a possibility, but the passing of June 1 doesn’t impact the cap consequences. His current contract has no bonus proration beyond 2026.
However it goes, June 1 (which used to mark a fresh wave of free agency before teams could cut players with a post-June 1 designation) remains a key date as it relates to the trading of contracts with significant dead money still attached to them.
Browns cornerback Denzel Ward is not participating in voluntary Organized Team Activities, but he says he’ll be good to go when the mandatory work starts.
“I’ve just been training, working out,” Ward said, via the Akron Beacon Journal. “I got a girlfriend, I got to take her on some dates. I’ve just been working out, working my craft and getting prepared for when I get back in there. Yeah, that’s it.”
Ward says he’s in regular communication with his position coach and is learning new defensive coordinator Mike Rutengerg’s scheme.
“It’s been good because even though I haven’t been there, like I’ve been with [defensive backs coach Brandon] Lynch, he’s been calling me, we’ve been getting on calls and going over the playbook,” Ward said. “And so I’ve still been learning the playbook and the new plays that’s been going in. And so continue to do that. And then like I said, I’ve been watching the practices that they’ve been doing and how they run the plays and how guys are looking. So I’m still involved, just from afar. I’m looking at it from a different view this time.”
Ward says he’s also been watching practice film of his teammates and he’s not concerned with anyone getting the wrong idea about his absence from voluntary work.
“You don’t have to read into it,” Ward said. “It’s up to people if they want to read into it, but no, I’ve just been working my craft, working out and getting ready. I’ve still been checking them out though, so I’ve been in the iPad seeing what those new guys have been looking like. So I got something for them when I get there though.”
The biggest question for the Browns is the identity of the starting quarterback. One of the men whose input will be relevant to the decision was asked for his take on whether Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders has taken the lead during offseason workouts.
“I don’t know that we have somebody who’s ahead,” offensive coordinator Travis Switzer told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re pleased with both their progress, and all the guys are doing a nice job.”
Switzer also was asked how he thinks the competition is going, at this point in the Cleveland OTAs.
“I think that both of those guys and really all of our guys are progressing very well,” Switzer said. “Very pleased in what we’ve seen in the growth. Like I said, a lot of is the familiarity with the system — getting a little more comfortable as we move on. But their progression, just in the short time that we’ve been so far is very encouraging, and we’re excited about that.”
Switzer was specifically asked what he has seen from Sanders.
“I’ll only speak to what I’ve seen over the last couple weeks, and his progress has been impressive,” Switzer said. “Just his ability to move through progressions. His feet are getting more urgent, and he’s ready to throw when he needs to more consistently. We can continue to grow there, but his progress has been impressive.”
At some point, one of them will be named the starter. The sooner that happens, the more reps he’ll have to prepare for Week 1.
That’s the challenge in every quarterback competition. At some point, it ends. The longer it takes to end it, the less time the winner has to get ready to play well enough to avoid being benched for the guy who finished in second place.
The Browns announced a change to their cornerback group on Tuesday.
They have signed Tyron Herring to their 90-man roster. DeCarlos Nicholson was waived with an injury designation in a corresponding move.
Herring went undrafted out of Delaware last year. He signed with the Packers and failed to make the cut to 53 players in Green Bay. He spent time on their practice squad and on the Patriots’ practice squad over the course of the season.
Nicholson signed with the Browns after going undrafted out of USC this year.
The Browns signed two other undrafted rookie cornerbacks to compete for spots behind Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell this season.
Free agent defensive lineman Janarius Robinson visited with another team as he continues to look for a place to play in 2026.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that Robinson worked out for the Browns on Monday. Robinson worked out for the Patriots earlier this month as well.
Robinson spent last season with the Chiefs and had a sack in the preseason before landing on injured reserve with a foot injury that cost him the entire season.
Robinson had had 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 16 games for the Raiders in 2023 and 2024. He has also spent time with the Vikings and Eagles.
