After an eventful offseason and a frustrating 3-14 finish in 2024, Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett is entering the 2025 NFL season with a clear vision and goals, a Super Bowl berth, and a second NFL Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award.
Garrett, who in February publicly requested a trade, reversed course in March by signing a four-year, $160 million extension, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. That deal pays him $40 million annually and reaffirmed his commitment to the Browns despite early skepticism about the team’s direction.
“I mean, I expect to get to the Super Bowl. That’s our expectation every year,” Garrett said on the first day of training camp. “I expect to run back to Defensive Player of the Year, so keeping both those things in mind, I have to be the very best player I can be every single day, whether we’re practicing or playing. As soon as I step in the building, I have to be the best version of myself and the best leader I can possibly be.”
Garrett made it clear that the disappointment from last season has become fuel for the upcoming year.
“Guys were really disappointed because they knew what we had in the locker room, within ourselves, and it wouldn’t be a letdown if this was the expectation, but it is because we know we have far more in the tank,” he said. “We have a great core unit, a lot of young guys, and there’s a lot of juice to squeeze.”
Garrett also spoke about channeling his offseason frustration constructively.
“You've got to channel it. I have such high expectations for the team because I have such high expectations for myself. The team’s going to go as I go, I’m going to try to be the driving factor behind that and create a standard which everyone has to chase every single day.”
Although oddsmakers project Cleveland’s win total at just 4.5 to 5.5, Garrett remains undeterred.
“I expect to bounce back from last year myself and defensively and as a team, so the standard doesn’t change or at least it doesn’t lower — it just raises them, improves,” he added. “I think we have guys who are older, understand both sides of the coin. Come from a really good season, come from a really bad season. It can happen just like that, so you’ve got to take that into account every single day when you’re training and getting to know your guys. The margins for this game are very thin.”
Myles Garrett, now 29, is not leaving anything to chance. After winning DPOY in 2023, being named to six Pro Bowls, and earning four first-team All-Pro honors, the franchise’s all-time sacks leader knows what it will take to fulfill his promise and lead the Browns towards glory, and that is consistency, leadership, and unmatched intensity.
You can’t have a slow step, you can’t forget your assignment,” Garrett said. “All those things that feel like minute details or just one bad step that could lead to a big play, a touchdown, whatever it is — that’s how those things accumulate and you end up where we were at last year.”
