Just a couple of days ago Myles Garrett was contemplating holding out into the regular season to force the Cleveland Browns to acquiesce to his trade request. Then on Sunday, the defensive end signed the richest non-QB contract in league history and may now finish his NFL career in Northeast Ohio.
Garrett will earn $40 million annually on a four-year, $160 million deal with $123.5 million guaranteed. He is under contract through the 2030 campaign, during which he will turn 35 years old.
Nicole Lynn, Garrett’s agent, spoke with Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com on March 9 and explained her client’s reasoning for his 180-degree change in stance regarding a return to the Browns in 2025 and beyond.
“[Browns GM] Andrew Berry and I spent the last 36 hours getting the deal done, basically. Myles had a change of heart and he’s excited to go from Cleveland to Canton and chase a championship in Ohio,” Lynn said. “When he made that decision, he said ‘I want to get this done before free agency so I can start recruiting free agents, so I can help the team.’ And I said, ‘Alright, we have 24 hours to get this done,’ and we did it.”
Myles Garrett Considered Sitting Out Regular Season Games Before New Deal With Browns
GettyCleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett.
Garrett made his initial trade request via a public statement well over one month ago.
In his statement, Garrett said he wanted to win above all else. He made more or less the same comments in multiple interviews after releasing that first trade demand.
Berry and the Browns shot down the idea, saying they had no interest in moving on from the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year, even for a haul that included two first-round draft picks. Cleveland attempted at that point to negotiate a new deal with Garrett, whose representation firmly declined the invitation to the table.
Then on Friday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero joined the “Rich Eisen Show” and introduced the notion of Garrett sitting out regular season games in order to obtain a trade.
“Now Myles Garrett is, from what I’m told, beginning to contemplate the very real idea that if the Browns don’t trade him, he might have to sit out games,” Pelissero said.
Browns Likely to Acquire Rookie QB in NFL Draft
GettyMyles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
The pivot from sitting out games and costing himself millions in the process just so he could leave the Browns to inking the most lucrative non-QB contract in league history in a span of less than 48 hours calls into question whether Garrett’s entire motive from the start wasn’t simply securing a historic payday from the franchise.
Whatever the case, the Browns now enter free agency this week with Garrett locked in for the next six seasons and holding the No. 2 overall pick in next month’s draft.
Most analysts currently predict that Cleveland will select a quarterback in that spot, either Cam Ward of Miami or Shedeur Sanders of Colorado. Deshaun Watson is out with an Achilles injury and could mss all of next season.
