Analyst has Myles Garrett idea for Browns amid Deshaun Watson's struggles

The Cleveland Browns fell to 1-5 on the season via Sunday's 20-16 loss at the Philadelphia Eagles and seemingly have "no practical" escape from what remains of the fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract they gave quarterback Deshaun Watson in March 2022 that will handcuff the franchise's ability to add talent through at least next offseason.

During Monday's edition of the ESPN Radio "Unsportsmanlike" program, former NFL defensive end and current analyst Chris Canty suggested that the Browns should make All-Pro pass-rusher Myles Garrett available to other clubs ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline.

"The Browns offense is abysmal," Canty explained, as shared by Josh Carney of Steelers Depot. "They failed to score a touchdown in yesterday's loss to the Eagles. They still haven't scored more than 20 points in a game or gained 300 total yards of offense in a game. ...The defense has to do everything for that team, and that's clearly not something that's going to be sustainable, let alone allow them to have something tangible in the way of wins this season."

On Sunday, the Browns became the first team in 10 years to score under 20 points in each of its first six games of a campaign. According to ESPN stats, Cleveland ended the weekend ranked last in the league in total offense (240.2 yards per game) and 30th with an average of 15.8 points scored per contest.

Even if Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski benches Watson in favor of backup Jameis Winston as soon as next week, there's no sign the Cleveland offense would become even an average unit overnight.

While Garrett is banged up this fall, he nevertheless is Cleveland's best overall player who theoretically would be worth multiple draft-related assets if he hit the trade market. He's signed through the 2026 season but likely won't be able to help the Browns compete for much of note over the next couple of years due to the salary-cap hits attached to Watson's albatross of a contract.

"So if you're the Cleveland Browns," Canty continued, " in order to get to the point where you could have sustained success, you are gonna be forced to move on from Myles Garrett, one of the best players your franchise has ever had. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year. I hate to suggest it, but the only way for this team to get better is by tearing it all down and starting from scratch."

As of Monday afternoon, there was no indication Browns general manager Andrew Berry was considering blowing things up despite the harsh reality he and Stefanski face this fall.

Unless Watson reclaims his best form beginning with this coming Sunday's home game against the 2-4 Cincinnati Bengals, it certainly seems like individuals within Cleveland's front office will need to have some difficult conversations during the upcoming offseason about "tearing it all down" and trading key contributors such as Garrett as part of ending the organization's Watson era.