Deion Sanders had strong feelings about the Browns keeping Myles Garrett. He drew a hard line. Then the trade happened, and the line moved.
Deion Sanders Defended Garrett Before the Trade
Before the blockbuster deal, Deion Sanders made his position clear in an interview with Garrett Bush. He pushed back hard on any talk of trading Garrett away.
“They got a killer on defense, I’m tired of y’all talking about trading him and getting rid of him,” Deion Sanders said. “That don’t make no sense to me. That’s a once in a lifetime man. That’s a once in a lifetime man that you don’t see no more. I don’t get rid of that. Unless I could get your mama, daddy, your uncle, cousins, and everybody in a trade for that. Because that’s a grown man. That’s a winner. That’s a winner.”
Those were strong words. Then the trade happened.
Deion Sanders Defers to Browns GM Andrew Berry
Cleveland traded Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for pass rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick. (ESPN) After the deal closed, Sanders shifted his stance entirely.
Speaking to D.J. Saddiqi of Covers.com during a media tour for his Depend partnership, Sanders deferred to Berry’s judgment.
“I’m happy with Mr. [Andrew] Berry, the G.M., and what he’s doing, I’m not going to question his direction of what he’s bringing to the table,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m not there, so I don’t know all the intangibles that provoked that trade. I’m happy with what they got, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”
Garrett is a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year who set the NFL single-season sack record during the 2025 season with 23 sacks.
Browns GM Andrew Berry said the trade wasn’t on his radar until the Rams included Verse in the offer, calling the 25-year-old a “huge part of this return.”
Verse is a two-time Pro Bowler and the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year.
The Browns had publicly insisted all offseason they had no plans to trade Garrett, the face of the franchise. Berry and the Haslam ownership group ultimately decided the package met their threshold.
Deion Sanders knows the Browns roster better than most. His son Shedeur is heading into Cleveland competing for the starting quarterback job. A dominant pass rusher like Garrett would have made that transition a lot easier.
Now Shedeur walks into a rebuild, and his father, for all his earlier fire about keeping Garrett, is standing behind the front office.
Also Read: “He Needs Several Things To Go Right With Him”: Deion Sanders on Shedeur Leading The Browns