Supporters of 31 other teams can stop writing fan-fiction novellas about Myles Garrett. The Cleveland Browns aren't trading the star pass rusher, even for a massive draft haul.
General manager Andrew Berry, speaking to three beat reporters Tuesday from the Senior Bowl, was asked directly if a club offered him two first-round picks for Garrett, "Do you say I'm not interested?"
"Correct. You can put that on the record," he said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
On the record it shall go.
Only in the minds of fans projecting hopes that they could pry the all-world pass rusher away from Cleveland did a trade make much sense. Even a significant draft haul wouldn't necessarily make it worth it for the Browns to trade a generational player. Draft picks are lottery tickets in which a team hopes to get a player like Garrett. He's already in Cleveland. He's still massively productive even as he nears 30. If they have any hope of turning around the careening ship off the shores of Lake Erie, he'd be a big part of it.
Garrett is coming off his fourth consecutive season with 14-plus sacks. He earned his fifth-straight Pro Bowl, has four first-team All-Pro honors and is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. The superlatives could go on until the internet runs out of space, but the point here is simple: If opposing clubs would gladly hand you multiple first-round picks plus more for a player, he's the type you should want to keep around.
Berry does.
The GM reiterated that the club hopes to ink Garrett to an extension. The 29-year-old has two years left on his five-year $125 million extension signed in 2020. The $25 million-per-year average that once was top-of-market has been leapfrogged. Four edge rushers make more per year than Garrett, with Nick Bosa atop at $34 million annually.
"I don't want to go into contract discussions. I wouldn't do that publicly," Berry said. "But I think you can assume that we do anticipate at some point doing a third contract with Myles. We want him to retire here."
