The Cleveland Browns recently made a minor adjustment to star edge rusher Myles Garrett's contract, pushing the due date for his option bonus back to September from March.
It's not a big deal. But, in light of the several waves of trade rumors that've surrounded the single-season sack leader in recent years, it's not surprising to see yet another wave of speculation that Cleveland could make its best defensive player available for a blockbuster trade at some point in the near future.
Of course, in light of their horrendous pass rush from a year ago, the otherwise-contending San Francisco 49ers are seen as a plausible destination and were linked to Garrett in previous trade speculations.
But, the vast majority of the 30 remaining teams would also crave Garrett's services, and the Browns would have no shortage of suitors from which to choose, should they actually make the pass-rusher available.
Recently, Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr put together a plausible list of trade destinations for Garrett.
One possibility should make the Niners shudder.
49ers would cringe seeing Myles Garrett traded to Rams
Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead is no stranger to trades, and it wouldn't be shocking whatsoever to see L.A. move draft capital to Cleveland in an attempt to land Garrett while quarterback Matthew Stafford is still present, thereby keeping Los Angeles' Super Bowl window wide open.
And that's precisely why Orr listed the Rams as a realistic trade partner:
"The Rams are another team that could be impacted by the ability to trade future capital, given the coming end of the Matt Stafford era. The Rams are in a divisional arms race alongside the Seahawks and 49ers and their post-Stafford draft capital could be a curiosity to the Browns as a potential undervalued asset (Sean McVay will never be bad enough with Stafford to qualify for a top-10 quarterback and shows no interest in starting over with one anyway, leaving him dependent in the post-Stafford era on an increasingly less appetizing group of veteran reclamation projects). The Rams traded their own first-round pick to the Chiefs, but they still have a 2026 pick from the Falcons situated at No. 13."
Los Angeles already boasts two upper-end pass-rushers in Jared Verse and Byron Young, meaning a pickup of Garrett would make its already-potent front seven that much more lethal.
Having to face L.A. twice a year, the thought of adding Garrett to that mix would be absolutely terrifying for San Francisco no matter what.
Of course, all this is contingent upon the Browns actually making him available. And while the 49ers can salivate at the thought of adding Garrett themselves, if he doesn't arrive in the Bay Area, it'd certainly be more preferable if he just stays put.
Or at least out of Southern California.