On Monday, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns shook up the NFL’s offseason by issuing a statement through NFL.com in which he politely requested a trade from the team. Garrett, of course, is among the best defensive players in the league, having racked up 102.5 sacks in his career since he was the No. 1 pick in 2017.
But, days before the kickoff of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Garrett is looking at his situation and seeing he needs to be elsewhere if he wants to achieve the highest team goal in the league.
“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 wrote, before expressing his love of Cleveland and its fans, and eventually getting to his trade request.
The Browns have, obviously, heard that request loud and clear. But, according to ESPN’s Jremy Fowler, they’ve already made a decision: They’re not trading him.
Latest on Myles Garrett. I’m told this is not a contract ploy – he simply wants to win. @SportsCenter with @itsthebaldgirl pic.twitter.com/lvyJjOVXFk
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 3, 2025
“The Browns, they have been clear: Nothing has changed for them,” Fowler said on SportsCenter on Tuesday. “They are gonna stand pat, they do not want to trade Myles Garrett. They have no plans of doing so. They were not blitzed by this decision, I was told they got a heads-up befoer the statement came out.”
But the Browns’ decision on Garrett could set up an ugly situation, because Fowler also is reporting that he is not doing this to have his contract renegotiated or to squeeze more money out of Cleveland.
He just wants to escape a franchise that went 3-14 last season and is in a poor position going forward.
“I was told that this is not a contract ploy from Myles Garrett,” Fowler said. “The Browns are fully comfortable paying Myles Garrett a new contract. Sometimes you see players make a trade request, the bigger play is to get more money. This is not a money thing, this is solely a winning issue. So what he says in his statement is exactly true, there’s no hidden agenda here.”
