Myles Garrett's blockbuster trade request may heighten 49ers' desire to find a team-friendly compromise with Brock Purdy

Over the years, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have consistently said they will always look into a trade for any star player that becomes available.

As such, it is very likely they will have already had an internal discussion about striking a deal with the Cleveland Browns for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

Garrett requested a trade from the Browns on Monday, likely putting every other team in the league on red alert.

San Francisco, picking 11th in this year's draft, has the capital to put together a comprehensive trade package for Garrett.

The 49ers would benefit from another infusion of impactful rookies after hitting on several picks in the 2024 draft, so sacrificing several of their picks this year would be a difficult decision to make.

But there is another problem with a potential trade for Garrett that may potentially make the deal difficult for the 49ers to do.

Over The Cap's Jason Fitzgerald wrote about the salary cap implications of a Garrett trade on Tuesday. Regarding the team potentially acquiring the four-time first-team All-Pro, he wrote:

"The team acquiring Garrett if a trade was made in the summer would be responsible for $14.8M this year and $25M next year. In theory they can manipulate the cap hits however they want, but in reality they will likely be extending Garrett. A market for a player like Garrett is a bit of an unknown. He is the best defensive lineman in football but will turn 30 at the end of the 2025 season. In the interim some data points could be found if the Steelers extend TJ Watt, but given the recent contracts signed by Aaron Donald and Chris Jones my expectation would be in the ballpark of $35 million a season on a three year extension."

An extension for Garrett at that level may not be overly desirable for the 49ers in an offseason in which they will also likely be signing quarterback Brock Purdy to a lucrative extension to make him one of the highest-paid players in the league.

The 49ers, per Over The Cap, have $48.29 million in cap space. Extensions for both Purdy and Garrett can be backloaded to keep their 2024 cap hits as low as possible, and ownership's willingness to pay large prorated signing bonuses up front gives San Francisco more flexibility.

But signing both Purdy and Garrett to extensions in the same offseason still figures to be very expensive and may contribute to San Francisco being in a difficult position against the cap in the coming years. 

San Francisco might have an easier time putting two such extensions on their books, however, if Purdy was willing to agree to take a slight discount to allow the 49ers to acquire a player who would greatly improve his chances of winning a Lombardi Trophy.

Purdy has made it clear he wants his contract situation resolved as soon as possible and, with the Browns right now dug in on the stance that they have no desire to deal Garrett, a potential trade with Cleveland may take several weeks to be resolved.

Protracted trade negotiations with the Browns would not be conducive to a speedy resolution to Purdy's contract talks. If the Niners want to gauge if Purdy would be open to taking a team-friendly discount to facilitate a Garrett trade and extension, the question needs to be asked soon. 

The smart money says Purdy and his representation will not be willing to oblige but, with the opportunity to land a future Hall of Famer, the 49ers should at least check if he might be willing to do them a massive favor.