Myles Garrett Requests Trade from the Cleveland Browns

The Browns may not be interested in trading Myles Garrett, but Myles Garrett is interested in trading Myles Garrett.

Mere days after Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters at the Senior Bowl that his team had no desire to part with the league’s best pass rusher, Myles Garrett posted a statement requesting to be traded from Cleveland.

“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,” Garrett’s statement read. “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.

“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.”

The statement is a direct response to Andrew Berry’s own words, who recently remarked on two occasions about Garrett going from “Cleveland to Canton.” The Browns are under no compulsion to trade Garrett. He’s under contract with the team for two more years. However, the former Texas A&M product could make things extremely uncomfortable for Cleveland should they choose not to. It’s assumed quarterback Deshaun Watson will not play for the Browns next year due to injury and performance issues. Watson’s $72,935,000 cap hit constitutes 26.52 of the team’s league cap. Garrett’s $19,722,000 hit constitutes 7.17% of league cap percentage.

So, if Garrett were to sit out, the Browns would not only have their best player on the sidelines, but nearly 34% of their payroll would also be on the sidelines. That is not a tenable situation for any franchise.

“The No. 1 pick of the 2017 draft, Garrett is a four-time, first-team All-Pro and is already one of the best players in franchise history.,” Pro Football Talk reports. “He’s recorded 102.5 sacks, becoming the first player in league history to record at least 14.0 sacks in four straight seasons in 2024.”

The reality is that the Browns were terrible with Garrett, and the franchise badly needs to hit the reset button. The highly lucrative officers that will now stream in for Garrett will provide the team with that opportunity.

Garrett will be traded.