Less than a year ago, Myles Garrett publicly requested the Browns trade him, citing the belief that he can’t win in Cleveland. Wrapping up at best a five-win season that cycled through three starting quarterbacks, how is he feeling now? Since his trade request, of course, he signed a long-term contract, currently chasing the single-season sack record.
“It’s not going well enough”, Garrett said of the progress the team has made this year, via the Browns’ website. “We’re not going to the playoffs. So that’s the end all, be all. You want to have a chance to bring the team to the big dance, and we didn’t do that”.
The Browns won their fourth game of the season last week by beating the Steelers. In doing so, they denied Pittsburgh the opportunity to clinch the AFC North title before Week 18. They did hold Garrett without a sack, though, so that’s one banner for next year.
Reporters asked Myles Garrett numerous times about HC Kevin Stefanski and whether he should stay or whether he would give his input. “I play football,” he said, but also acknowledged that he will always give his opinion when somebody asks. And he basically admitted that they will ask him.
Asked if he wants the Browns to keep continuity, he said, “I want things to be successful. However that looks”. Describing playing under Stefanski, he said there have been “more downs than ups”, which is, of course, true if you go by the win-loss record. “Would have loved to make a little bit more noise in some different years, especially this year with how well we’ve been playing on defense”.
Myles Garrett is far and away the most important member of the Browns organization. If a situation arose that required them to choose been him and Stefanski, you know the choice, which is precisely why reporters kept asking him about Stefanski.
For example, they asked Garrett whether he believes the Browns can succeed if they stick with Stefanski. “I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds, but it’s with him or anything else”, he said. “I’m gonna look forward to playing under whoever it is. You know, be happy to be here and being a Brown, regardless”.
But he also admitted that the Browns didn’t entirely hold true to what they told him during the conversations that took place to get Garrett to agree to stay in Cleveland last year. “Maybe a little bit”, he said. And later on, he said he was as surprised as anyone that they traded Joe Flacco.
Even though he relented on his trade request last year, Myles Garrett still wants the same thing. “I’m committed to winning, and long as the team organization are doing so and they’re committed to that same thing, then I’m all on board”, he said. “But if we’re thinking anything other than winning – tanking or rebuilding, that’s not me”.
If the Browns didn’t trade Garrett last year, they’re certainly not going to this year. But they will also want to at least try to keep him happy. Right now, that might depend on how he feels about Shedeur Sanders. If he’s not convinced Sanders can develop into a solution, they might want to draft another quarterback. He did praise their rookie class, including Mason Graham and Carson Schwesinger, two standout defenders.
Of course, it’s not like Garrett could have praised the Browns’ four-win season. They had a bad year by any measure, ranking 31st in points scored, and don’t look like they’re closing in on competing for a division title. Anybody who wants to win should probably be saying similar things. But Garrett saying them in particular means something more, especially after last year.
