CLEVELAND — Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett has announced that he is requesting a trade after spending the previous eight seasons in Cleveland.
In a statement shared with the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 29-year-old says while he’s “loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl. With that in mind, I have requested to be traded from the Cleveland Browns.”
Breaking: Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and #Browns star Myles Garrett has requested a trade. Exclusive statement: pic.twitter.com/LgS5YCeCnP
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 3, 2025
Garrett is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist to win the award again later this week. He finished the 2024 campaign with 14 sacks, becoming the first player in league history to record at least 14 sacks in four straight seasons.
But as the Browns were finishing a disappointing 3-14 season, Garrett let it be known that he was not eager to stick around if the team was not positioned to make a run back to the playoffs.
I’m not trying to rebuild,” Garrett said to reporters on Dec. 20. “I’m trying to win right now. And I want that to be apparent when the season is over and we have those discussions. I want them to be able to illuminate, illustrate that for me so that can be something I can see in the near future. Because that’s all we want to do.”
The “Cleveland to Canton” phrase that Garrett mentioned in his letter was previously used by Browns GM Andrew Berry last month in his season-ending press conference, indicating that the six-time Pro Bowler would go from Browns superstar to future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
“In terms of Myles, my anticipation, expectation is that he’ll have a direct ticket from Cleveland to Canton at the end of his years and expect him to be here and retire as a Brown quite frankly,” Berry said on Jan. 6.
Last week at the Senior Bowl, Berry told Cleveland-area reporters, including Cabot, that “unequivocally” he wouldn’t trade Garrett, adding that he was open to locking up the four-time All-Pro selection to a new contract.
Garrett has two years remaining on a five-year, $125 million contract extension.