Rich’s Message to Browns Fans Upset with Myles Garrett’s Trade to the Rams

Rich summoned "the temerity" and "the gumption" to speak directly to Cleveland Browns fans upset about losing Myles Garrett. His credentials for the job are painful ones. He grew up a Jets fan.

"I get it. I get it," he said on the show. For decades, Rich has listened to front offices tell him these were the players who would turn things around, only to watch those players get traded, the team rebuild, and another coach get hired. "Start again, and start again, and start again," he said. "I understand what you're feeling."

He did not sugarcoat what comes next for them. Garrett is headed to the coast, and the Rams are already the de facto favorites. "You're going to watch Myles Garrett, and he's going to be living a better life," Rich said. "The grass will most certainly be greener here in Los Angeles."

And yet Rich's message was not sympathy alone. He thinks Cleveland had no choice, and was late getting there.

The case is simple math. Last season Garrett set the single-season sack record and won Defensive Player of the Year unanimously. "You cannot have a better individual season than what this guy did at this position," Rich said. "And you all wound up sixth overall in the draft."

That, to Rich, is the whole story. Garrett gave Browns fans memories, excitement and a jersey worth wearing. "But that's all you got out of Myles. So, why not try something else? And I think they made the right move."

Rich knows the return was not four first-round picks, and he knows Cleveland will not be flipping trades into a nonstop bumper crop of rookies the way the Oklahoma City Thunder have. But he pointed out the Browns already have a strong group of young players from recent drafts. "Jared Verse is freaking great," he said. "And he's the same age as the kids you drafted. Let them grow together."

The show then played Browns general manager Andrew Berry explaining the decision. Berry said he had always told himself that three things would have to be true before he ever traded Garrett.

"Number one, it would have to have short and long-term benefits," Berry said. "Number two, as part of the trade, a young cost-control star at a premium position would have to be included. And the third piece is that there would have to be premium draft capital."

Berry said very few deals satisfy those constraints. When the Rams talks reached a point where all three were met, Cleveland stepped back and really thought about it. Asked when the deal shifted from never happening to real, Berry was direct. "The inclusion of Jared in the deal."

"Damn straight," Rich said.

He went further, noting Verse comes with three more years of contractual control, plus the possibility of a franchise tag after that. The rest of the Browns' story, in Rich's view, comes down to two questions. "Who's the quarterback and is the coach any good?"

The studio had one counterpoint ready. Garrett had more sacks from Weeks 8 through 12 last season than Verse has in his career, 13 to 12. Rich did not dispute it. He just returned to the number that matters more.

"But even that stat, sixth overall," he said. "Get the quarterback right, get the coach right, cuz I think the rest of the roster is really damn good. With Jared Verse."

Rich's final word, as a lifelong Jets fan, was that he knows how another reset sounds. This one, he believes, actually tracks.