NEW ORLEANS -- There aren't many players the Patriots should consider moving the No. 4 pick for in a trade. But Myles Garrett is one of them.
The All-Pro defensive end for the Browns has requested a trade, opening up the possibility that one of the game's best defensive players -- if not its best defensive player -- changes teams this offseason.
There is no question that the Patriots should be calling Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry. For many teams, the idea of acquiring a highly-paid, uber-productive pass-rusher in his prime would be pie-in-the-sky stuff. Fantasy land.
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Not for the Patriots.
They have a first-round pick the analytically-driven Browns would likely covet. They have more cap room than any other team in football. And because they aren't paying big money to players at the most highly-paid positions in the sport -- quarterback Drake Maye and corner Christian Gonzalez are still on rookie deals -- they have the freedom to consider a earth-rattling move like dealing for Garrett.
Garrett played for a coaching staff last season that included then-Browns consultant Mike Vrabel. But whatever behind-the-scenes intel Vrabel was able to glean on Garrett would likely pale in comparison to what Garrett has put on tape for the world to see.
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The Patriots were among the worst defenses in football a season ago in part because of their inability to rush the quarterback. They recorded a league-worst 28 sacks in 2024. Christian Barmore missed the vast majority of the season while dealing with blood clots. Keion White hit speedbumps throughout his second season as he acknowledged not absorbing the coaching he was given.
Garrett would help solve that problem quickly. He was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded edge defender in 2024 (minimum 300 snaps) while ranking third in pressures (83) and fourth in sacks (14). He's been named a first-team All-Pro in four of the last five seasons and he was Defensive Player of the Year in 2023.
Adding a premier pass-rusher like Garrett would give Mike Vrabel the type of "planet player" -- an old Bill Parcells term for someone with rare physical talent around whom a team could be built -- on his defensive front who would give opposing offensive coordinators fits on a weekly basis.
Garrett's ability to defeat single blocks, not to mention double-teams, also might make it easier for the Patriots to devote more bodies to their secondary on a snap-to-snap basis as they transition to more of a two-high safety shell defense. In 2023 during Vrabel's last season as Titans head coach, Tennessee ranked seventh in the NFL in two-high safety usage rate.
Micah Parsons. Garrett Wilson. Charles Cross. Those were a few of the names we tossed out on a recent Patriots Talk Podcast who were deemed worthy of acquiring in a trade that sent the No. 4 pick away from Foxboro. Garrett shouldn't only be considered among that group, he should top the list.
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It wouldn't necessarily be easy for the Patriots. Or the Browns, for that matter. Cleveland would need to do some serious roster shuffling just to be able to absorb the cap hit associated with trading Garrett. Per Over the Cap, Berry might have to restructure Deshaun Watson and Denzel Ward's contracts and cut Jack Conklin in order to facilitate a deal and manage the over $36 million in cap charges if he's dealt.
The Patriots, meanwhile, might have to come up with a little more than the No. 4 overall pick in order to get their guy. Shawn Syed of Sumer Sports suggested as much on the latest Next Pats Podcast.
"I think the Browns say no," Syed said. "I think the Browns say, 'Give me more than that!'... I'm 100 percent making that call (if I'm the Patriots). I'm offering No. 4. Make them say no.
"I do think Andrew Berry probably says, you know, 'What about your [No. 1 pick] from next year? What about a one and a three for next year?' ...I'm not sure if Cleveland winds up trading him, but you have to make that call. You have to make them say no."
But Garrett is worth a haul in draft capital, even if it includes No. 4 overall, which could be used to draft a blue-chip talent like Colorado's dual threat Travis Hunter or Penn State's Abdul Carter.
"If that's all you have to trade, yes," a defensive assistant who has worked closely with Garrett told NBC Sports Boston. "Assuming you can sign him to a long-term extension and get four to five years minimum from him. Myles is smart. He listens."
And he's one of the best players in the game. For a team in dire need of talent and with money to spend, the Patriots should try like hell to wrangle him out of Cleveland.