The Dallas Cowboys’ trade bid for Maxx Crosby came up just short, but that disappointment may have led to an even greater opportunity.
Dallas was willing to send the Las Vegas Raiders a first-round pick and a second-round selection in exchange for five-time Pro Bowl pass-rusher. Instead, the Raiders dealt Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for two first-rounders before that franchise subsequently rescinded the deal based on now-disputed claims of a failed physical involving Crosby’s surgically-repaired knee.
After all of that went down, the Cowboys said they were not interested in jumping back into the mix for Crosby, as the team had subsequently sent the Green Bay Packers a fourth-round pick in exchange for outside linebacker Rashan Gary.
That was well and good until Wednesday, March 25, when Field Yates of ESPN reported that Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns had made a curious decision to change his contract language.
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Salary cap analyst Jack Duffin of the Orange and Brown Report took to social media and contended that the specific changes rendered to Garrett’s deal add up to only one logical conclusion.
“Garrett wants out, seems like they are going to give it to him later in the offseason,” Duffin wrote. “No real reason to do it otherwise.”
Duffin made that claim in the caption of a repost from Over The Cap’s X account, which linked to a detailed explanation of the precise alterations the Browns and Garrett made to his contract.
“The Browns and star [edge]-rusher Myles Garrett have agreed to a modified contract where the two sides have agreed to push back the option dates in his contract from late March to early September,” OTC wrote. “This is a pretty bizarre move on Garrett’s end as it defers the payment of salary each year to Garrett and really just opens up a trade window each year, except Garrett has a no-trade provision. It is hard to really tell what the logic is here from either side.”
If Duffin is correct, and the logic is that Garrett wants out of Cleveland, Dallas is among the more likely franchises to pounce. Garrett is the reining NFL Defensive Player of the Year after breaking the single-season record with in 2025, and thus could command a monster haul of draft assets in any trade.
Dallas owns two first-round picks this season, Nos. 12 and 20, which might be enough to make a deal happen given the immediacy and strength of those selections. If that is too much too fast, the Cowboys could offer the Browns pick Nos. 12 and 92 in 2026, as well as a first-rounder in 2027 and perhaps one more asset, player or pick, to round out the agreement.
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