If Jim Schwartz Leaves, Will Myles Garrett Follow?

 

If Jim Schwartz leaves, why would Myles Garrett stay?

Nothing like a good conspiracy theory.   Check this one out. 

1.  The Browns are the most quarterback-fixated team in the NFL. 

2. Jimmy Haslam has loved the Manning family since Peyton played for Tennessee, which is the college strongly supported by the Haslam family. 

3.  JH3 and the Browns wish to change to a high flying passing team behind Arch Manning, and therefore are willing to tank the season. 

4. The Browns need an acceptable reason to dismantle the defense which might win too many games to get them the first overall pick in the 2027 draft. 

5.  They could trade Myles Garrett for draft capital in 2027 in case they need it, but they will probably finish last anyway.  They need to rebuild the offensive line and acquire wide receivers. 

6.  They need to rebuild the salary cap structure of the team which is still reeling from the huge Deshaun Watson deal as well as $80 million dollars worth of "Voidable Years" money that will come due in the next two years.*

7.  If they hire someone like Todd Monken, they can get Myles Garrett to agree to be traded for a few high round picks that will help them rebuild the offense for Arch Manning.  

This is very similar to what they did in 2016-2017 when they actually overdid it and went 1-31.  Their goal in 2026 and 2027 is to put as many offensive pieces in place as possible for Arch, or another quarterback of comparable ability.  2027 is supposed to be a great year for quarterbacks.  

*Voidable years means that bonus money is spread out for up to five years even for contracts that are fewer than five years in duration.  When that contract ends, the remaining bonus money is immediately charged to that fiscal year.  So, say you give a player a $50 million bonus over 5 years, but the contract is only for two years.  Year 1 gets charged $10 million, year $2 is also $10 million, but if you do not re-sign the player $30 million gets charged to the cap in Year 3 unless they resign the player to a new contract and reset the clock.  This is a time bomb!  The Browns have $80 million dollars waiting to bite them in the next two years, on top of Deshaun Watson's $130 million.   Wow!!!!