Myles Garrett unhappy with Browns' continuing struggles: 'Tanking or rebuilding, that's not me'
Browns star, who could break the NFL's single-season sacks record on Sunday, is open to revisiting his status with fourth-place club.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett aims to set the NFL’s single-season sack record in Sunday’s season finale at Cincinnati.
But in his standard weekly meeting with reporters on Friday, Garrett, who re-signed with the Browns last March, left the door open for revisiting his status with the fourth-place club in the coming months.
“I am committed to winning,” Garrett said. “As long as the team and the organization are doing so and they’re committed to that same thing, then I’m all on board. But if we’re thinking other than winning — if it’s tanking or rebuilding — that’s not me.”
After going 3-14 in 2024, the Browns have four wins headed into Week 18 of this season. Garrett has been closing in on the single-season sack record since November and likely has locked up his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in the process. Garrett has 22 sacks on the season and stands just a half-sack short of the record of 22.5 shared by Michael Strahan (2011) and T.J. Watt (2021).
Garrett spent the final month of the 2024 season broadcasting his uncertainties and frustrations with the state of the Browns, then made a public trade request the week of last year’s Super Bowl. The day before the 2025 player movement period began last March, the Browns announced that Garrett had signed a contract extension worth more than $122 million in guaranteed money that runs through 2030. After signing the new contract, Garrett said he had assurances from the organization that the team was committed to fixing its quarterback situation and putting together a team that could contend for the AFC playoffs.
That hasn’t happened despite an outstanding season by Garrett individually and by the Cleveland defense as a whole. The Browns’ future at quarterback, as well as at several other offensive positions, remains murky, and it’s unclear if head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry will return for a seventh season in 2026. The Browns quite clearly were in rebuilding mode when Garrett signed his new contract and must go forward with a similar mindset, though there have been no real clues as to what team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam plan to do in the wake of another losing season.
When asked Friday about the Browns potentially firing Stefanski or making other organizational changes after Sunday’s game, Garrett first said he’s just a player and that his focus is on Sunday’s game. Garrett also said he’d offer his opinion on the state of things if asked and that he views next week’s exit meetings as a chance to share his thoughts.
Asked if he wants stability going forward, Garrett said, “I want success.”
Garrett turned 30 earlier this week. He’s played his entire career with the Browns, who made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2018.