Myles Garrett's suspension is over.
The Browns defensive end has been reinstated by the NFL, the team announced Wednesday. Garrett had been indefinitely suspended by the NFL since Week 10.
"We welcome Myles back to our organization with open arms," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said via a statement released by the team. "We know he is grateful to be reinstated, eager to put the past behind him and continue to evolve and grow as a leader. We look forward to having his strong positive presence back as a teammate, player and person in our community."
Garrett was at the center of an ugly brawl that broke out in the final seconds of the Browns' Week 11 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Shown to a national television audience via Thursday Night Football, Garrett was involved in a tussle with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, who pulled at Garrett's helmet before having his own pulled off his head by Garrett. As Rudolph charged Garrett, the defensive end swung the quarterback's helmet at Rudolph's head, partially striking him.
The fracas brought a dark cloud over the Browns, who should have been celebrating a dominant win over the Steelers but instead were still in shock from the brawl. The league acted swiftly, indefinitely banning Garrett, doling out suspensions to Maurkice Pouncey and Larry Ogunjobi, and fining each franchise $250,000.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that Rudolph's appeal of his $50,000 fine was upheld recently, according to a source informed. The backlog of appeals took a while to work through but that decision came down, Garafolo added.
Cleveland's defense suffered without Garrett as the Browns limped to a 6-10 finish.
That's all water under the bridge now with Garrett reinstated. The 24-year-old defensive end still hasn't even reached his peak as a havoc-wreaking edge rusher, but at the time of his suspension, he was in the top five in sacks in the NFL with 10 through 10 games. His 30.5 sacks are the most by any Browns player in history in the first three years of their career. It's intriguing to wonder what Garrett's sack total would have been had he played the entire 16 game slate.
Garrett will now get to move forward from this ugly incident with a chance to repair his reputation. He'll also get two games against Pittsburgh again in 2020.
