A month after publicly requesting a trade, Browns star Myles Garrett has signed a massive four-year contract extension to remain in Cleveland.
Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto said it came down to two things Garrett wanted; To play for a Super Bowl contender and be the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
He got one of those two things, reportedly signing for $123.5 million guaranteed. He also has a no-trade clause.
Pluto said he does believe Myles wanted to go to a winning team.
“He’s got some Cleveland Browns fatigue, and a lot of fans do understand that because they have the same feeling,” Pluto said. “He came into the Browns in 2017, whereupon they didn’t win a single game and he’s gone through different coaches. Now, twice he’s gone to the playoffs, but overall, there’s been a lot more losing than winning.”
For Garrett, the overarching issue is the two years left on his contract in Cleveland, and the team had no interest in trading him.
“I think (Garrett) looked at the fact, ‘Do I really want to be the guy who misses training camp and sits out games? Do I want to be that guy?,'” Pluto said. “Because that guy comes out like a bad guy because that guy is under contract for two more years. And I really believe in the end, Myles decided, ‘Okay, we took this as far as we could.’”
Pluto believes Garrett made some mistakes in his public trade request campaign.
“He hurt himself in the eyes of the fans during Super Bowl week when he went on all the different radio shows saying just how he didn’t want to play in Cleveland anymore,” Pluto said. “He didn’t believe in them, blah, blah, blah. Because up till that point, I would say 80 percent of the emails I received supported Myles.”
Still, Pluto believes Garrett will remain a fan favorite.
“I’m trying to think of who they’ve had in their history who’s maybe a better defensive lineman and I can’t come up with anybody,” Pluto said. “He is a unique player. Secondly, he’s a guy, he lives here, he’s a part owner of the Cavs (and) he’s been around the community. He’s the guy you want on your team.”
Pluto also praised Browns General Manager Andrew Berry for how he handled the situation.
“They didn’t get into a war of words with Myles at all,” Pluto said. “They just kept saying, ‘We’re not trading him. We’re not trading him.’”
Pluto explained why team owner Jimmy Haslam declined to meet with Garrett.
“Suppose (Garrett) had gone to Haslam and maybe the Browns were thinking, ‘Well, maybe we should trade him,’” Pluto said. “I don’t know what they were thinking, they kept saying they weren’t going to. Then it would look like the owner meddled, and we’ve all seen enough of Jimmy Haslam meddling. This was good, the Browns really were a united front on what they were saying about Myles and how they handled it. So, I give them a lot of credit for that.”
Now, Pluto said, the Browns can focus on the upcoming draft with their No. 2 overall pick.
On Monday, the Browns announced they’d traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Kenny Pickett. Pickett, a first-round pick by the Steelers in 2022, started one game last season for the Eagles while backing up Jalen Hurts. He was 14-10 as a starter in two years for Pittsburgh. The Eagles reportedly will receive quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick in next month’s draft.
