Offseasons in Cleveland are never really quiet for the Browns.
The team's focus had been on attempting to find a franchise quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in this spring’s NFL Draft, but now the Browns have to deal with reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett’s request to be traded.
Multiple NFL insiders reported the news Monday morning, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first publishing a statement from Garrett.
“As a kid dreaming of the NFL, all I focused on was the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl – and that goal fuels me today more than ever. My love for the community of Northeast Ohio and the incredible fanbase of the Cleveland Browns has made this one of the toughest decisions of my life. These past eight years have shaped me into the man that I am today,” Garrett said in a statement.
“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. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.
“With that in mind, I have requested to be traded from the Cleveland Browns.”
Garrett’s news comes as a shock, given his seeming re-commitment to the Browns near the end of the regular season.
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"I've talked to [general manager Andrew Berry]," Garrett said during an episode of Max’s “Hard Knocks: In Season With the AFC North.” "How we gonna make the most of all the talent that is here? We're closer than some may think we are.”
Berry recently told reporters from Cleveland.com and The Athletic that he would not trade Garrett this offseason no matter what other teams called and offered.
Garrett’s eight seasons in Cleveland have certainly been a tremendous individual success. He was named the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, has been named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press four times and to the second team twice. Garrett has made the Pro Bowl six times, with the only omissions coming in his rookie season and in 2019 when he only played 10 games due to a league suspension after hitting Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph over the head with Rudolph’s helmet.
In Garrett’s 117 games played, he amassed 102.5 sacks, breaking the previous franchise record of 77.5 held by Bill Glass.
Time will tell if Berry and the Browns will honor Garrett’s request and send him to a more competitive situation, but it’s fair to say that one of the best players in the history of the Browns no longer wants to be here.
Since the Browns drafted Garrett, the team has a record of 53-78-1 in the regular season and 1-2 in the postseason, including the only playoff victory since the Browns returned to action in 1999.
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