Cote: Dolphins trade for Browns defensive star Myles Garrett would be boldness Miami needs | Opinion
The Miami Dolphins should go hard after Myles Garrett.
This club has improved over the past few NFL seasons but still is struggling to matter in the stacked AFC, and should look fast at being one of the teams that might take advantage of the defensive star Garrett on Monday publicly requesting a trade from the Cleveland Browns.
Will it happen? Dolphins fans ought hope for it but perhaps not bet on it.
The complications are many when a high-priced, veteran star player wants out of his contact and demands a trade -- as the Miami Heat is presently experiencing with Jimmy Butler.
Butler has turned down overtures from Memphis and now Golden State, saying he would not sign an extension if traded there and still insisting on getting to Phoenix as the Heat scramble to get something for their suspended malcontent before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
The complications with Garrett wanting out include him being under contract for two more seasons and Cleveland understandably not wanting to trade him because he’s really good -- second in sacks only to Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt since entering the league in 2017.
Said Browns general manager Andrew Berry after the 3-14 season: “My anticipation, expectation is that he’ll have a direct ticket from Cleveland to Canton at the end of his years and expect him to be here and retire a Brown, quite frankly.”
Further muddying any interest on Miami’s part would be the desire of Garrett, 29, to go from the dregs of Cleveland to a contender as he spends his late-prime still chasing a championship.
Said Garrett in requesting a trade: “While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”
Whether he’d consider Miami a contender is dubious at best. Fins are off a playoff-less 8-9 season and it’s now 24 years since Miami last won a postseason game. Not to mention the likes of Kansas City, Buffalo and Baltimore as continuing conference roadblocks.
Immediate betting odds on landing spots for Garrett reflect how Miami may be a longshot, but a plausible one. Fins are given 16-1 odds. That ranks 10th, or upper-third of possibilities.
But would Miami be interested enough to take on the last two years of Garrett’s five-year, $125 million contact and as well as give up what it would take in a trade to get the sackmeister defensive end? That might mean Miami dealing starter-caliber players to the rebuilding Browns or perhaps two first-round draft picks including this year’s 13th overall.
The price for a reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and future Hall of Famer ain’t cheap.
What is not complicated or open to conjecture is that Miami’s defense would be better with Garrett than without him.
The Dolphins defense was not bad last season but had only 35 sacks, sixth-fewest in the league.
Sacks leader Zach Sieler was voted season MVP. But the other starting end, Calais Campbell, will turn 39 as next season starts. And injuries have rendered sack-producing linebackers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb tough to rely on.
Phillips is only 25 but had been limited to nine games combined over the past two seasons. Chubb, 28, missed the entire 2024 season.
Garrett would give Miami what is does not have now: A defensive force so great that opposing offensive coordinators must plan around it.
As Jimmy Butler continues to hold the Heat season hostage, the Dolphins pursuing and landing Garrett would be the seismic, bold equivalent, on defense, of the Fins’ 2022 trade for receiver Tyreek Hill.
Here is Miami’s reality as it watches the Chiefs go for a third straight Super Bowl win and the Bills and Ravens lead the parade of other AFC teams that are also better:
The Dolphins are not today a contender and won’t magically become one with tweaks and 13th picks and fingers crossed for perfect health.
Miami needs action that is big and bold to reflect how desperate this franchise should be.
Going hard after Myles Garrett would be just that.
