The Cleveland Browns have so many reasons not to trade defensive end Myles Garrett. They have even more reasons not to trade him to the Ravens.

But if recent Luka Dončić-related events have demonstrated anything, it’s that it never hurts to ask. And the Ravens fit the sole criterion that Garrett underlined in the trade request he made Monday.

“While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent,” he wrote in a statement. “The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”

The Ravens don’t need much to get there. Adding Garrett, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, to one of the NFL’s most talented rosters might make them preseason Super Bowl favorites in 2025. The campaigning from quarterback Lamar Jackson and senior secondary coach Chuck Pagano has already begun.

But the Ravens aren’t the only contender that could use a game-wrecking pass rusher. Here’s a look at why general manager Eric DeCosta could be interested in a deal — and why it probably won’t happen.

Why a trade could happen

Garrett’s an elite pass rusher: The Ravens haven’t had a pass rusher of Garrett’s caliber since Terrell Suggs’ heyday. Garrett has 60 sacks over the past four seasons, the most in the NFL over that span, and at age 29, he’s still in his athletic prime. This past season, Garrett finished sixth among edge rushers in ESPN’s pass rush win rate and first in Pro Football Focus' win rate among all pass rushers despite being double-teamed more than any other top edge rusher, according to ESPN.

What’s most impressive about Garrett’s production is how quickly it comes. The Ravens finished second in the NFL in sacks this past season, but only one defender, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, had double-digit “quick pressures,” according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats — pressures registered in under three seconds. Garrett had 40, second most in the league and more than twice as many as Van Noy (17).

The Ravens need that kind of pass rush help in the AFC. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is one of the NFL’s best blitz beaters, the Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow has one of the league’s quickest triggers, and the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen is nearly impossible to bring down single-handedly. All three figure to be in the Ravens' way for a while.

DeCosta’s a big-game hunter: Garrett would be one of the best players ever traded in the modern NFL. But under DeCosta, the Ravens have at least shown a willingness to swing for the fences.

In 2020, he reportedly proposed a novel sign-and-trade idea for then-unsigned outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney that the NFL shot down. In 2021, he reportedly made a run at then-Miami Dolphins All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard. In 2023, he reportedly tried to get Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton in the offseason and then-Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry during the season. And this past season, he reportedly pursued then-New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell at the trade deadline.

And those are just the deals DeCosta missed out on. In his six-plus years as general manager, the Ravens have acquired an All-Pro cornerback (Marcus Peters), a five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman (Calais Campbell), a four-time Pro Bowl running back (Derrick Henry), a one-time Pro Bowl defensive end (Yannick Ngakoue) and a former top-10 pick at inside linebacker (Roquan Smith) — all players in or close to their physical primes.

“We love to make trades,” DeCosta said at the team’s predraft news conference in 2020. “The last two years especially, I think we’ve made a ton of trades, and it’s been really fun for us. And, actually, I think we’ve benefited from some of the trades that were made.”

But he later added: “Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make. We just assess case by case and see what we can do.”

The Ravens can make space: Garrett’s salary cap hit over the next two seasons is pretty reasonable. If he’s traded, he’d count about $20 million against his new team’s cap in 2025 and about $25 million in 2026, according to Over The Cap. Eleven other edge rushers have an average annual contract value of at least $20 million; few are as accomplished or durable as Garrett.

The Ravens, who have only about $6 million in cap space ahead of free agency, could make the math work for Garrett in the short and long term. Adding him would effectively take them out of the market this offseason for left tackle Ronnie Stanley, a pending free agent, and require a few contract restructures, which DeCosta has been reluctant to embrace. But adding the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year is at least feasible.

A new long-term deal, which Garrett would all but require before signing off on a trade, could force tougher decisions in Baltimore. Jackson’s cap hit rises to $74.7 million in 2026 and 2027. Defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike and Smith both have cap hits of over $28 million in 2026 and 2027. Top-of-the-market extensions for All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton and Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, who are due big raises after the 2025 season, would take up even more space, even with the cap rising every year.

But there’s a reason why so many of the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterbacks are the defenders tasked with sacking quarterbacks. It’s the same reason why DeCosta spent a second-round pick in 2022 on outside linebacker David Ojabo, a first-round talent whose draft stock had tumbled after tearing his Achilles tendon. Elite pass rushers are hard to find.

Why a trade probably won’t happen

Reluctance to trade within the division: Shame can be a powerful motivator. Even if the Ravens make the best offer for Garrett, would Browns general manager Andrew Berry really be amenable to a deal that significantly strengthens a rival’s roster? A rival that Cleveland plays at least twice a year? A rival that could win a Super Bowl with one of the Browns’ best-ever players taking center stage?

That’s a lot to live with. New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen’s offseason dismissal of running back Saquon Barkley has haunted him this entire season, and not just because Barkley turned into an All-Pro for the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley’s ascent confirmed just how far from contention the Giants were, how wasted his talents had been on a lesser roster. No one wants to be turned into a meme every Sunday.

DeCosta and Berry have been open to doing business before. But it’s one thing to do a late-round pick swap and another to hand over a force-multiplier like Garrett for a couple of picks that could amount to very little.

DeCosta prizes his draft picks: The Ravens have drafted at least one player in the first round in 12 straight drafts. The last time they didn’t, in 2012, it was because they traded out of the bottom of the first and into the top of the second.

DeCosta’s team-building strategy is premised on acquiring draft picks, not trading them away. Since 2019, the Ravens have left a draft with fewer than eight selections just once. This year, they’re expected to have 11 picks — seven original-round selections, plus four more via the compensatory-pick process.

With Jackson under contract for the foreseeable future, the Ravens’ championship ambitions will depend on how much cheap, impactful talent they can surround him with. Garrett would be impactful, but he wouldn’t be cheap. Cleveland could demand at least two first-round picks, a package that Berry said last week he wouldn’t even entertain.

Then again, DeCosta might not, either. Few teams have found better value in the first round in recent years than the Ravens, from Hamilton to wide receiver Zay Flowers to cornerback Nate Wiggins.

“The idea that we would trade away draft picks every single year — fans love it because they want these sexy names, they want these big-time players," DeCosta said on the “Next Up with Adam Breneman” podcast last year. “To me, that’s a very volatile way of building your franchise with long-term implications that are going to be harmful, generally.”