Myles Garrett is “not open” to a contract extension with the Browns, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
Garrett’s trade request has been one of the biggest stories of the offseason. The Browns have insisted that they will not move Garrett and are reportedly willing to make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league to keep him in Cleveland. That contract could come in as high as $40MM per year, the highest APY of a non-quarterback in NFL history.
But this situation isn’t centered around money. Garrett knows he can get a top-of-the-market contract from most teams in the NFL, but he’s looking for something without a price tag: a Super Bowl. Based on his assessment of the Browns’ immediate future, they won’t be competing for a Lombardi trophy in the immediate future.
Garrett is entering his age-30 season but remains at the height of his powers, which is one of the motivations behind his trade request. He doesn’t want to chase a championship in the twilight of his career; he wants to lead a defense to the Super Bowl during his prime. Crucially, he doesn’t want to waste any time participating in a rebuild in Cleveland.
The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year is coming off of his fourth straight season of at least 14.0 sacks and 17 tackles for loss. He set a career-high in the latter category with 22 in 2024 on his way to his sixth Pro Bowl and four first-team All-Pro selection. He would immediately be the best player on most defenses in the NFL and would likely fetch one of the biggest trade hauls in league history.
While the Browns would receive plenty of draft capital to rebuild their roster, the cap implications of trading Garrett make it a difficult move to swallow. If both sides maintain their current position, they’ll continue their standoff into the summer. Garrett will likely skip offseason workouts and refuse to participate in training camp. From there, he could even hold out into the regular season.
Prolonged hold-outs have rarely worked out in the players’ favor, but Garrett has a few factors working for him. First, if he genuinely doesn’t care about the money, he won’t mind forfeiting his game checks to get the trade he wants. He’s the type of player that can transform a defense overnight, and he would carry a low 2025 cap hit in a trade which would allow almost any team to acquire him.
Even if they get a massive trade offer, the Browns could still play hardball and ensure that Garrett plays for no one but them. However, how the team treats their former No. 1 overall pick will impact their reputation with other players around the league. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin once said that teams want “volunteers, not hostages.” Players feel the same way and could avoid Cleveland in the future if they think the team won’t honor a request to leave.
There’s no easy answer for the Browns, so their impasse with Garrett is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Once the team has more clarity on their roster after free agency and the draft, they may revisit the trade request as a way to kickstart their rebuild.
Bears for #10 for Garrett and a 2 year contract extension at 70 mill with 30 mill guaranteed giving Bears 4 years of control over Garrett which matches Williams rookie contract.
Yeah the talk about a historic trade haul plus a historic contract extension has me wondering what it’d actually take for the Bears to get him and sign him long term. If it’s actually multiple 1st rounders and a 40 mil per year extension, I’d 100% look elsewhere. Same goes for Parsons. See what Hendrickson and Crosby cost in trade and if they’re all coming in that steep, I’d sign Mack for a few years and see if our 1st or 2nd rounder at Edge pans out.
Completely agree with you. And, about bringing Mack back.
Perfect assessment.
That’s a nice start but not even close to getting it done. At least 2 1st rounders if another solid player isn’t coming back to Cleveland. The guarantees will need to be much higher as well. He’s in his prime. He’ll need to be paid accordingly
He’s already under contract. I say screw his trade request and tell him to honor the contract he chose to sign. If he wants to hold out, let him. And fine him.
@bigjon When I see these takes, I never understand them. Holding a player hostage in no way helps a team. You hurt your reputation with players, your locker room and your product on the field.
Cleveland is already the biggest joke in the league, and you’d like to add to that?
By trading him, they’d do right by the player and be able to infuse some more talent back into the roster by way of the picks they’d receive in return. They desperately need that after what they gave up for Watson. Sure, it complicates the cap and makes them marginally worse for this coming season, but they’re already a last place team with a happy and healthy Garrett, anyway.
Yeah at this point trying to force him to stay is just going to lead to locker room turmoil that will seep into the rest of the already terrible team. Better to shop him now and get the best offer you can to help rebuild your team for the long term. It’s not like the Browns are competing this year anyway.
It’s interesting to see this take as someone who is also a fan of soccer where if a player requests to be “sold” or makes it known through the media that he wants to be “sold,” (which happens more often than trade requests in the NFL) it’s pretty much always going to happen. They know better than to try to keep an unhappy player on the team who will certainly not be at his best.
Multiple first round picks will be 2026 and 2027 or 2028 come draft time
Not many teams are gonna pony up a “haul” for a player openly refusing to sign a new contract with Cleveland. They can just wait it out 2 years and offer him a record contract in free agency if they choose to do so and keep all their picks.
A top 10 pick would go along way to helping Cleveland rebuild. More so than Cleveland getting picks that could fall into the 20s if Garrett helps teams make the playoffs.
The guaranteed money portion is right on par of what he received previously
50 mill out of 125 mill is 40% guaranteed
30 mill out of 70 mill is 42% guaranteed
I offered a 2 year 70 mill extension cause I figure Garrett would want to test the free agency market one last time ala Von Miller.
Garret wants to win a superbowl. Hearing fans of rebuilding teams talk about Garrett is puzzling to me. This situation is hard for all parties cuz there’s probably only 10 teams Garret wants to play for, and they were all in the playoffs last year. If you weren’t in the playoffs last year, Garret doesn’t want to be on your team
To bad!! Garrett signed a contract. Live up to it. He wanted the big money then and now he wants a trade to a contender. Then he shouldn’t have signed his current contract. Simple
You really are a deep thinker.
It’s the NFL; teams ditch contracts constantly! Since Garrett signed, the Cleveland Browns traded their future for a Complete Bum Creeper of a QB.
If this historically pathetic organization won’t trade him, Garrett should play the 6/7 games he needs to fulfill his contract at half-speed.
Who gives a **** about the Cleveland Browns.
Yeah because nothing increases a players value than to quit on his team. If Garrett dod that, he’d be labeled as an often injured older DE. Would you pay a 32 year old defensive end 35 million a year that plays in 6 games and gets 2 sacks?
Minus the Steelers. Must have a relevant shot at advancing to apply
Hysterical. Generational talent demanding to be released from the confines of this organization. The Haslams are just so awful.
Great player…but lost much respect for him when he tried to race bait after his actions to get out of it. Not saying he deserves to rot away in Cleveland but still it was blatant he was lying. We all do stupid things but trying to ruin someone else along the way is crazy.
I forgot about that. Yeah, that was super sleazy. And wasn’t he swinging his helmet at the Pittsburgh QB?
Cleveland has turned into that needy girlfriend who just won’t take no for an answer.
Any team that gives up a big haul for him better think they can win the 2026 SB. He’ll be on the wrong side of 30 with an injury history. He’s still very good but not as dominant at wrecking an offense like he used to be. Caveat emptor.
Just trade him ffs
He’s clear that he doesn’t want to be there so you’ve already lost leverage in trade negotiating; and that will only decrease the longer you wait.
Now that he’s rebuked an extension, you e lost even more leverage.
Trade him … just don’t get fleeced as usual
It’s just so sad and pathetic. It’s like when they were paying Holmgren to work til Noon then hit the road.
Garrett for this year’s 2nd, next year’s 1st, a 4th, and Willis and LVN. GPG.
CLE has an opportunity to “fix” some mistakes of the past by trading Myles for much needed picks. Use that 2nd overall pick on a QB and rebuild this team. I know everyone says they need to draft Abdul Carter with that 2nd pick but is replacing Myles Garret with another ‘potential’ Myles Garret going to fix the team?
It is an offense driven league, and they play in one of the toughest divisions in football. Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson are not going anywhere. PIT is a tough, competitive team that always wins more games then they lose. CLE isn’t winning with Watson or Winston, who are they going to sign in free agency to lead the team? They have the 2nd overall pick for a reason, don’t over think it. Grab a young QB to build your team around. Bring in a veteran who can actually play football to either bridge for a year or who can help mentor the rookie (or both). Nothing wrong with letting a veteran play the first 3-4 games of the season to work out the offensive line issues and to show the rookie how the offense is supposed to be ran.
Stop trying to compete when you are not competitive. Rebuild, as in tear of the band-aid and get it over with. The faster you except the rebuild the faster you can get back to playing meaningful games.
Just my thoughts, Thanks for reading.
The Browns brass are too stupid to tear it down. First thing is they should get rid of both the GM and coach. Both most certainly will be fired in the middle of next year. As long as they ride that Watson show they’re cooked.
Did you see the video of the assistant GM on the Cleveland Browns X account? She (yes, another DEI hire) was explaining how she goes about looking for a QB. It was pathetic.
This tells me that it’s not just Berry and Stefanski who are the problem. DePodesta and this so-called AGM need to be jettisoned, too.
yeah, like the men the Browns have hired have done much
Joe Burrow? He hasn’t made the playoffs in 2 years. The Browns went last year. Nobody is worried about the Bengals
Garrett would never agree to a trade to the Bears they’re not even close to a playoff spot let alone the Super Bowl.lol
The only teams that could afford him are those with a QB on a rookie deal and most of those are not SB contenders. I think both Chicago and Washington might be in the running for his services.
He’s not an FA, it’s not about being able to afford him. It’s about being able to trade for him and him wanting to go to that team. He’s under contract for 2 more years. He’s not going to approve a trade to Chicago that’s for sure. Washington might be an option but all the Chicago fans that keep beating this drum like they’re a whole year further along than they actually are is just funny. Don’t forget a couple things. 1. It took Ben Johnson 5 years in Detroit before the offense was anything special, and they had one of the best OL in football. 2. Caleb Williams needs to be protected so he stops running around like a chicken with his head cut off- and it takes years to build an OL. Chicago is still at LEAST another season out of the playoffs before they can be KIND OF competitive.
He’s turning down a bigger contract in Cleveland, so he likely is looking for a shot to go to the big game (or at least be competitive). The Bears will need more than a year to get back on the rails, let alone be competitive in the playoffs. They face Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay twice a year (may be the toughest division in the NFC).
“That’s for sure” lol what? Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, a stacked defense that’s only really missing one more edge rusher, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, three picks in the top 50, and $80 million in cap space. The Bears are pushing for the Super Bowl as much as anyone going into the 2025-26 season. Basing the outlook of the bears on their previous season that was hampered by the worst coaching in the league is moronic. The Bears may not be quite as sure a thing for the playoffs as the Eagles/Chiefs, but they are in that next tier.
You know what I like about hopeful Bears fans? It hurts all the more when the team collapses. I fire up WSCR and listen to the post-game callers. Comedy gold! But apathetic Bears fans are no fun.
Bears fans are delusiional. I can’t believe how many were chanting Super Bowl last year with those coaches and a rookie who hadn’t taken a snap, not to mention their Swiss cheese offensive line.
Same muppet Bears fans that thought Justin Fields was a great QB. They embarass the city!
This is just not true.
The Bears are more than ready to compete having just signed the best offensive mind in football and the most sought after HC candidate as their new HC, not to mention the most promising QB prospect since Andrew Luck, an already solid defense, and a plethora of offensive weapons. The Bears are as ready to compete for a Super Bowl as almost anyone going into 2025-26.
Must be why they were 5-12
They were projected to go 9-8 before the season. The reason they struggled so much is because they had the worst coach in the league. Now they have Ben Johnson.
LOL. Gotta love Bears fans. Every offseason. Eternal optimism. They’ll be quiet by Halloweeen again. Haha
Not even the ghost of George Halas can fix that OLine. Bears aren’t going anywhere unless they fix it.
Good for him if it’s true, but I’ve learned to never trust anything reported by MKC.
Normally I’m one of the people who says a player needs to live up to their contract. But not in this case. Garrett has presented the Browns with a win-win scenario. They get trade capital to rebuild for the future. He gets to go play for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
The team is a total dumpster fire and it’s sickening to watch another Hall of Fame level player waste his best (or only) NFL years toiling in the Factory of Sadness. Like Joe Thomas.
As a lifelong Browns hostage I can attest this is a reasonable take. Since 1999 this iteration of the Cleveland football franchise has been a complete failure. Any accidental success was immediately stamped out by a miserable front office decision. Objectively they on the fast track to contraction. Home ticket sales will never be a problem but globally where is the brand? It’s nonexistent in a rapidly growing league. Once Garrett is gone what is there to like about the Cleveland Browns? A rich history? It’s really confounding, sad and unfortunate.
Everyone needs to understand the money thing and contract thing are non-issues here. He’s got 2 more years under contract and his cap his is only $20m. He’s not going to NEED to be extended for a trade to happen. If he was presented with an opportunity to be traded to teams like Buffalo, KC, or Philly, but none of them were going to extend him, he’s not gonna care. He’s made it clear he wants to compete for a superbowl. If he goes to a winning team, the contract does not NEED to be redone. If a team like Chicago wants to trade for him AND extend him to a major contract, he’s gonna turn that trade down. This isn’t like going after an FA, and he’s not disgruntled about money. He’s disgruntled about losing.
Why would he turn down a trade + extension from the Bears? That seems like a complete non sequitur. The Bears are more than ready to compete having just signed the best offensive mind in football and the most sought after HC candidate as their new HC, not to mention the most promising QB prospect since Andrew Luck, an already solid defense, and a plethora of offensive weapons. The Bears are as ready to compete for a Super Bowl as almost anyone going into 2025-26.
The Bears are essentially rebuilding with all new coaches and schemes, and need to develop stronger offensive and defensive lines before they’ll be competitive. On the right track, but 2025 won’t bring them a Superbowl. That’s what he wants more than money. Buffalo, Detroit, KC, San Francisco, Baltimore have much more to offer in the immediate term.
SF? They won 6 games
Deerhunter’s mentality is that whatever a team did last year, they’re going to do the exact same thing this year. Teams don’t change from year to year. I think he’s like 11-12 years old.
Do you pay attention to football? SF was riddled with injuries in 2024, but, unlike Chicago, they’re expected to return to playoff form in 2025.
The most promising QB prospect since Andrew Luck was Trevor Lawrence. And that hasn’t quite panned out. If the Bears get Trevor Lawrence play out of CW they are in trouble.
Bears trade Montez Sweat and their 2026 first round pick for Garett, extend him, sign Khalil Mack, thus ensuring that both Mack and Garett go into the HOF as Chicago Bears. Make it happen, Poles. We need to pad our HoF record a bit.
Browns don’t want Sweat
Well they pretty much have to trade Garett now so they can either take a couple lottery ticket picks or an established NFL Edge Rusher plus a first. I can’t think of any team that would be willing to trade away a better Edge Rusher plus first round picks.
I don’t think Garrett would approve a trade to the Bears. He wants to contend for a Super Bowl.
Garrett does not have a choice here since he is under contract. He is either a Cleveland Brown or a member of whatever team Cleveland trades him to.
That’s technically true, but it doesn’t represent real life. No team is trading for a player of Garrett’s stature and salary level if he doesn’t want to go there. As Mike Tomlin says, “We want volunteers, not hostages.”
The concept of trading a guy to show other players you’re willing to oblige for these types of requests is ludicrous. He signed a contract.