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Today in football: OH MY WORD A MYLES GARRETT TRADE. (Full details here, and more on this in a minute.)
Plus: The Vikings’ new GM illustrates how you can become your favorite team’s GM. But let’s start in Philadelphia.
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A.J. Brown trade: Why the timing mattered
With the calendar flipping to June 1, the Eagles can finally trade A.J. Brown to the Patriots.
First: How are we already at month six of 2026? 2025 ended a few weeks ago!
Second: Yes, we got a merciful end to the Brown saga. To celebrate, Daniel Popper published a detailed explainer on why teams wait until today, the very important date of June 1, to finalize a deal. The most important thing to know:
- If Brown was traded by the Eagles before 4 p.m. ET today, league rules force Philly to account for Brown’s remaining bonus money in the 2026 league year.
- If they instead traded Brown after 4 p.m. today, the Eagles can divide that money over two seasons.
That’s because, as Daniel explains in his story, “for a transaction to be processed by the league on any given day, it must be submitted by 4 p.m. ET. A transaction submitted to the league at 4:01 p.m. would be processed the following day.”
And since Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is fond of paying bonuses to delay salary-cap hits, Brown has $43.5 million of bonus money that would accelerate onto the team’s 2026 cap.
The top row in this next graphic shows what happens if the Eagles traded Brown before 4 p.m. today, while the lower rows show the bonus money split across two seasons, if he’s moved after 4 p.m.
The salary cap was undoubtably the biggest reason for its delay. Trade grades here.
Another star who was moved?! Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
Cap-starved Cleveland would’ve been on the hook for all of his $41.09 million signing bonus if it officially moved him before today, but can spread that amount across two seasons by processing the trade after 4 p.m.
Our Browns beat reporter Zac Jackson wrote about the possibility of the team trading the 30-year-old superstar (with just two playoff appearances in his nine-year career … #FreeMyles!). From Zac:
💬 “Maybe something really could be up, and maybe with that contract modification came an acknowledgement from both sides that the Browns’ current timeline might not match Garrett’s.”
I want to zoom in on that contract modification. Those things matter. For example, the Raiders structured Maxx Crosby’s contract in a way that enabled them to move on from him without significant cap damage (and they nearly did, but for those pesky Ravens’ doctors).
Here’s Zac, again from his story:
💬 “In March, the team and Garrett agreed to a contract modification that deferred a total of $29 million in bonus payments due to Garrett over the next three years.”
“The modification created no immediate salary-cap space for the Browns and pushed around $10 million in guaranteed money for Garrett from March to a week before the start of the regular season in September. The only real explanation for the modification is that both sides were at least opening a trade window.”
How did Browns fans feel about that possibility?”Make sure DeShaun Watson is part of the deal,” commented one. “I laughed when I saw the only team with multiple 2027 firsts is the Jets,” wrote another. “The most tragic career timeline for a HOF player would be Browns to Jets.”
Thankfully for Garrett, the highest rated player at 99 overall in “Madden,” he has a no-trade clause. And instead of the Jets, he’s now headed to one ideal destination: Los Angeles.
Sean McVay’s Death Star
“There are always two. A master, and an apprentice.” That quote came from Yoda, a Jedi master in “Star Wars.”
The villains of the series, the Sith, built the Death Star to destroy entire planets.
We can analogize that to what Sean McVay and Les Snead are building with the Rams. Matthew Stafford is the master, rookie QB Ty Simpson the apprentice and the team (WITH MYLES GARRETT) is itself as a Death Star-like destroyer.
Yoda never really detailed the training of Sith lords. Thankfully for us, our Rams beat reporter Nate Atkins shared how Stafford can mentor Simpson, and how the 23-year-old is learning from the 38-year-old reigning MVP.
“I know he’s going to watch not only me, but other guys a little bit too, and really just soak up as much coaching as he possibly can,” Stafford said. “He’s a guy that asks questions. I’ve been trying to answer those as honestly and as thoroughly as I possibly can.”
It’s a situation where Stafford’s offseason rest is a benefit. Here’s how Nate puts it:
💬 “Stafford’s need for time off could allow Simpson to get extra first-team reps in training camp in addition to starting preseason games. The hope, then, will be that Simpson won’t have to see the field in any meaningful games this season.”
We’ve got more in the full story here. Before we move on, I promise I wrote this before the news broke: What if the Browns want Simpson for Garrett? Who would’ve said no?
Anyways, the full compensation wasn’t immediately available but it appears the Browns will receive a 2027 first-round pick and star pass rusher Jared Verse. DETAILS HERE. (Sorry for yelling, I’m just excited.)
Vikings Land GM: Who is Nolan Teasley?
My boss once pointed something out that I’ll always remember: We don’t want to be the quarterback of our favorite team, we want to manage the team.
Which means Nolan Teasley, the former Seahawks assistant GM who was recently named the Vikings GM, might have your dream job. What qualifications might you need to be hired in a similar role? Here are three key bullets on his resume:
1. Start as an intern. Teasley joined the Seahawks in 2013 as an intern in the team’s scouting department.
2. Build up, slowly. Teasley was then promoted to a pro personnel scout (three years), assistant director of pro personnel (one year) and spent five as director of pro personnel. Teasley became the Seahawks assistant GM in 2023
3. Win. In the 13 seasons since Teasley joined the Seahawks, the team has made nine playoff appearances and won two Lombardi trophies. Not bad at all.
“He really is the perfect present-day GM,” one current Seahawks staffer told our Alec Lewis. “He’s taken the time to learn all of the new stuff that one needs to know to succeed in the role — sports science, player development, health and wellness, analytics and good, old-fashioned ball.”
A positive update for Vikings fans! Many more details in Alec’s full story, available here.
Extra Points
👀 Who cares about anything else? Go read about the Myles Garrett trade.
▶️ Thursday’s most-clicked: Mike Sando’s look at the best offseason moves for all 32 teams. Fun read.
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