Insider addresses Browns' updated stance on Myles Garrett trade request

While speaking with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine this week, both Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski strongly indicated the club won't be trading wantaway pass-rusher Myles Garrett anytime soon. 

Nevertheless, some continue to believe the Browns are simply looking to receive the best possible offer for Garrett's services. 

For a piece published Thursday morning, Browns reporter Zac Jackson of The Athletic addressed whether or not Berry is shopping Garrett during the combine held in Indianapolis.

"I fully believe the Browns don’t want to trade Garrett, and I understand why they wouldn’t want to. But I also believe they have to listen and prepare themselves for the possibility that Garrett simply won’t budge and eventually could make things ugly...in the months ahead," Jackson wrote.

Browns insider Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand has repeatedly said "Garrett has more leverage than most in the media are admitting" regarding a possible trade. The one-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award winner is signed through the 2026 campaign, and the Browns reportedly are willing to wait and see if Garrett would sit regular-season games out to protest still being with the club in September. 

Multiple in-the-know individuals have said Cleveland would make Garrett the league's highest-paid defensive player via a restructured deal if he will stay with the team for at least one more season. 

A message repeated throughout the offseason is that people within the Browns feel the club could make a second trip to the playoffs in three years if it gets better quarterback play. Cleveland could sign a veteran such as Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons to a team-friendly deal next month, and the Browns could also spend the second overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft to acquire either Miami's Cam Ward or Colorado's Shedeur Sanders.

Recent stories have suggested the Browns would choose Ward over Sanders if both are available at choice No. 2. 

"The Browns must get Garrett to change his mind," Jackson added. "Maybe they can and maybe they can’t. They’re certainly trying."

It remains to be seen what will happen if Garrett doesn't change his mind about wanting to leave the Browns from the end of the combine through the start of training-camp workouts.