It was the move of the offseason yesterday. The team the Los Angeles Chargers share a stadium with pushed all of their chips to the middle of a table for Myles Garrett.
In a blockbuster move, the Rams acquired the 7x All-Pro pass rusher to bolster their current roster in this Super Bowl window.
It obviously brings up questions on what Cleveland intends to do in the future. Just three months after GM Andrew Berry called Garrett a "career Brown" and one of the faces of the organization, the team traded him. As the Browns rebuild around a young core of players, what do they do with other veteran players who could return value on the trade market?
Could Browns CB Denzel Ward become a trade target for the Chargers?
Quickly after the Garrett trade, the Browns wasted no time communicating that the team is not conducting a "fire sale". Via ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Cleveland is reportedly a "hard no" on trading 5x Pro Bowl CB Denzel Ward. But again, we heard that same song and dance regarding Garrett until push came to shove.
A Ward trade would make a lot of sense for the Chargers. They have the cap space to absorb his contract. While his cap hits over the next two years are around $30 million, Ward has been restructured twice by the Browns in the last two years and has void years tacked on to Cleveland's books. The Chargers would likely inherit less in terms of actual cap hits. All of Ward's fully guaranteed money on his deal has been paid out.
On the roster at cornerback, the Chargers are built well for this season but have long term question marks. CB Donte Jackson is playing on an expiring contract this season after signing a two-year deal with the team in 2025 free agency. In 2027, CBs Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still will be playing on the last years of their respective rookie contracts. While the Chargers have some promising developmental projects like Nikko Reed or Eric Rogers, they haven't necessarily invested much capital into the future of their CB room.
There's some risk with Ward. Injuries have piled up over the course of his career and he is 29. But he still has played 44 of a possible 51 games over the last three years. From 2023-2025, Ward earned three straight Pro Bowl nominations.
Nothing will be imminent with Ward, but it's hard to buy that he's truly a cornerstone piece for Cleveland in 2026 if they were to end up selling at the deadline. With the Chargers CB room potentially in flux over the next two years, a trade for a known quantity at the position would make sense.
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