PHILADELPHIA — Contract disputes have their own theoretical physics. A lot of times you can predict their trajectory based sheerly on math. In the case of Myles Garrett v. Browns, we have a problem that not even Faraday or Feynman has managed to solve.

In the far corner: The Unstoppable Force.

In the near corner: The Immovable Object.

This one is beyond even Howie Roseman’s pay grade.

You’ve no doubt read in recent days all sorts of reports and write-ups suggesting a potential fit between the Eagles and Garrett, the All-Pro defensive end whose trade request has ignited a firestorm of speculation on the verge of NFL free agency. Concrete details are scarce at the moment. But the underlying principle of the reports is self-evidentially true: Every team in the NFL is a potential fit for a player of Garrett’s magnitude.

A four-time first-team All-Pro who finished third in defensive player of the year voting in 2024, one year after winning it, Garrett may be the most impactful non-skill position player in the NFL. The level of disruption he wreaks from the edge is unparalleled, both against the run and the pass. He led the NFL with 22 tackles for losses in 2024, while logging 14-plus sacks for the fourth consecutive season.

Yet the 29-year-old Garrett is also nearing an age when every season could be the last of an elite player’s prime. J.J. Watt, the most dominant lineman of his generation, was 29 when he made his last All-Pro team. Watt had 16 sacks and 18 tackles for losses in 2018. Over the next three seasons, he combined for 10 sacks and 23 tackles for losses. Fletcher Cox, who needs no introduction locally, made his last All-Pro team at 28 years old. He had 10 1/2 sacks and 12 tackles for losses in 2018. The next two seasons, he combined for 10 and 14.

I’ve learned never to rule out anything when it comes to the Eagles under Howie Roseman. The Eagles have a clear need on the edge. Brandon Graham could be retiring. Josh Sweat will be a free agent. Bryce Huff, last year’s marquee free-agent signing, is a big unknown after a disastrous first season that ended with his watching the Super Bowl in street clothes. Pressure from the edge was the Eagles’ one relative weakness this season. (I say that with a heavy, heavy emphasis on the word relative.) Were the Eagles to add Garrett’s single-handed ability to own his side of the line of scrimmage, they could legitimately dream of a defense that could post one of the greatest seasons ever.

The temptation of such short-term greatness may well be too great for Roseman to err on the side of long-term prudence. Everything else about the Eagles’ current situation says they neither should nor will be willing to sacrifice the significant draft picks and salary-cap space required to acquire Garrett. They already are Super Bowl champs. They have the psychological capital to prioritize long-term sustainability and the political capital to weather the short-term risks. The cap dollars might be more significant than the cost in draft picks.

Jalen Carter is in line for a record-setting contract extension. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean won’t be far behind, if their rookie seasons are any indication. Any cap room they do not allocate to Garrett is cap room they will be able to allocate in the future, given the rollover nature of the NFL’s accounting practices. Successful organizations understand the reality of opportunity costs. Taking everything into consideration — the draft pick(s), the cap dollars, the age-related actuarial risk tables — the price is likely to be prohibitively steep.

That’s true in a vacuum. But it is even truer once you factor in the real-world pressures faced by a general manager like the Browns’ Andrew Berry. The ironic thing about the situation: Even if there were no Eagles-Garrett rumors, the Eagles would still loom large in the Browns’ decision-making. The No. 1 priority for every general manager this offseason: Don’t become next season’s Joe Schoen.

Fair or not, the Giants’ decision to let Saquon Barkley sign with the Eagles will go down as one of the great offseason blunders in NFL history. That Schoen has shouldered the brunt of the blame cannot be lost on an executive like Berry. The Browns GM is entering his fifth season at the helm of one of the league’s most wayward franchises. He is squarely on the hot seat, and he has no mulligans remaining after the whole Deshaun Watson thing. It’s also worth noting that he spent a season working under Roseman as the Eagles' vice president of football operations in 2019.

The mitigating circumstances are enough to make you wonder how the Browns-Garrett impasse will ever be resolved.

“He’s an awesome player,” Berry said. “Understand the trade request and everything, but our stance really has not changed. We can’t imagine a situation where not having Myles as a part of the organization is best for the Browns.”

Given that 2025 is likely to be dead on arrival anyway, Berry and the Browns would seem to have much more to lose by trading Garrett than they would from a protracted holdout. The hit to their reputation would be much more significant than the impact on their already-nil Super Bowl chances.

At the very least, the Browns can leverage their fears of watching a franchise icon like Garrett go full Saquon somewhere else. What does it profit a man if he gains a single late first-round pick but loses his soul?

Of course, playing hardball with Garrett comes with the risk of his staging a season-long bonfire made of boats. These things usually work out in the favor of the guy with the bully pulpit, as it did with the Eagles and Haason Reddick.

The Browns will likely trade Garrett to somebody. You have to think they’d rather it be anybody but the Eagles.

©2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.