Let's give credit to Myles Garrett. If you're going to publicly demand a trade from your current team, doing it right before Super Bowl LIX and all the media that comes with Radio Row is a pretty good time to do it, because you can get your face out there and let people know how you feel about your current situation and what landing spots might be of interest without having to deal with all the backchanneling that comes with NFL rumormongering.
It sets the stage perfectly to put teams on alert for trying to pull off a trade ahead of the real gossip party that is the NFL combine. The Washington Commanders might want to get their antenna up, because Garrett sounds real interested in playing for Dan Quinn and, perhaps more importantly, with Jayden Daniels.
Daniels, who was named the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Year on Thursday and will almost certainly pick up more hardware on Thursday night at NFL Honors, was electric as a rookie and, as such, is a very attractive draw for other NFL players looking for a new team.
Which explains why Garrett, who wants to play for a contender, told ESPN's Mina Kimes on Wednesday he "absolutely" would want to play with Daniels.
"Absolutely. I mean, he looked great ... he looked great when we played him," Garrett said. "He really showed his behind when he was in the playoffs. He's really done it and been very composed throughout the entire season. He can only continue to flourish if he keeps his head down and works."
Daniels met the Browns in Week 5 of the season and hardly had his best game of the year, going 14 of 25 for 238 yards, a touchdown and a pick (he also added 82 yards rushing on the ground). Not that he needed to: the Commies cruised to a 34-13 win over Cleveland.
Garrett also said over the course of this week he consulted with LeBron James about publicly requesting a trade, which is interesting given his Daniels comments because no one knows the importance of tying yourself to other stars more than The King. Whether it's Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis or -- in the wake of the recent NBA trade that sent shockwaves around the sports world -- Luka Doncic, LeBron's always seen the value in playing with other superstars while chasing championships.
And while most athletes will talk up the importance of winning, Garrett, the former No. 1 overall pick for Cleveland, made it abundantly clear he want to chase a championship more than anything.
The Commanders, who just made an incredible run to the NFC title game and have a very bright future thanks to Daniels and Quinn as well as GM Adam Peters, certainly fit the bill.
When Garrett initially requested the trade, Tyler Sullivan included the Commies on his list of teams who made sense for Garrett:
The Commanders have found their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels, who just led the club to an NFC Championship appearance. While Daniels is playing out his rookie contract, it'd be wise for Washington to capitalize on that QB discount by adding elite talent to other areas of the roster, which includes the defensive line. The Commanders have the third-most amount of cap space this offseason ($78.1 million), so they could easily afford to bring Garrett aboard and ink him to a new deal. He'd also seem to blend well with Dan Quinn's defense. This season, Washington ranked 14th in the league in pressure rate, so adding Garrett would vault that defense up inside the top 10 thus making the Commanders even more dangerous in Year 2 of the Daniels era.
Nothing much to really add there. 10 out of 10 from Sully -- the Commanders make tons of sense. I'd point out too that while Garrett's a hand-down rusher, but he's also an athletic FREAK and we saw what Quinn was able to do with a guy like Micah Parsons in Dallas, moving him all over the place and absolutely terrifying opposing offenses.
Adding an alpha pass rusher should be a key priority for the Commanders this offseason, especially with the interior talent they have. While it might cost a lot to get Garrett, the Commanders could potentially pony up a pair of first-round picks and also not sacrifice a ton in terms of draft capital if they make the move before the 2025 NFL Draft (they have a very low first-round pick) and have a strong follow-up season in Daniels' second year.
Unlike previous iterations of Washington teams, this current setup actually can afford to be aggressive in pursuing high-end talent to add to the roster. Garrett is a perfect example of a player this team should shove in for in a win-now window with Daniels on his rookie deal.