The Cleveland Browns are no strangers to being in the spotlight for making poor decisions. Resigning Myles during the off-season was not a poor decision. The front office convincing him or his agent that this team would be competitive was the poor decision.
Normally, in these types of situations, people feel bad for the player because they believe the player is trapped in a bad situation. But this isn’t quite the case.
Just during this past offseason, Garrett made this spectacle, like he is now, about wanting to win and wanting to be traded. Then came owner Jimmy Haslem with a Brinks truck of money, and Garrett caved.
This isn’t to say that Myles isn’t a generational talent or to say he wouldn’t be worth some of the outlandish trade ideas that have surfaced for him.
But a player who has truly given up, like what ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote about … it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
“I was at Myles Garrett's postgame news conference in Foxbourgh on Sunday after he recorded five sacks in a 32-13 loss to the Patriots. Garrett walked in with a serious, somber look on his face, headphones hugging his forehead and his phone blaring "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He waited until he was at the lectern and behind the microphone to turn off the music. Then he took questions to which the answers were all basically, "I just want to win." He seemed very sad and very worn down by years and years worth of the Browns of it all. And I'm standing there thinking, "But you took the money, man..."
That is exactly what someone who has given up sounds like. But Dan's last words ring true:
“But you took the money…”
And with posts like what Cleveland Sports Talk posted on their X account, people aren’t feeling sorry for Garrett because he took the money.
With overpaying trade rumors coming around, if Myles wants to win, he may have to do something no player has done before.
He may have to give up some of the money he is being paid to get a deal done with a contender.
The two teams that come to mind are the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams. Both of these teams have the trade capital to give a Micah Parsons-like deal to the Browns. Dallas has more of a chance to take on Garrett’s contract, but I wouldn’t call them a contender.
Also, I don’t believe the three first-round picks that the Eagles are supposedly offering are legitimate. I don’t believe Garrett is worth more than what Micah was traded for, and if he is, it’s only slightly more.
First problem with the Eagles trade proposal is, how are they going to pay for Garrett’s contract unless Garrett gives back a lot of the money in this year‘s contract and next year? They have even less cap space than the Rams do.
The Rams are rowing the same boat in wanting Myles, but don’t really have the cap space either, only having $14 million left. So that really just leaves Dallas with $30 million left in cap space, and they need a star pass rusher.
And although Mary Kay Cabot reported that there is “zero chance” the Browns trade Myles Garrett, we all know how front offices and sources lie around here.
Browns fans will watch next Sunday after the bye, anxiously waiting to see how Garrett does. The first few plays that he quits on and he doesn’t try, fans are going to lose their minds.
This could be a meltdown bigger than Antonio Brown’s was.
I, for one, am looking forward to this meltdown on Sunday because it may finally put Garrett in a position to show other players that if you’re actually about winning the Super Bowl.
Then it’s not about the money.