Myles Garrett delivers ominous message to Browns regarding future

Myles Garrett made it very clear on Friday that he wants to compete for Super Bowls and that, ideally, he would like to be doing that in the future with the Cleveland Browns. 

He also made it clear that he needs to see some sort of plan from the Browns this offseason that indicates his short-term vision and the team's short-term vision are on the same page. 

If they are not, he could potentially envision himself playing for another team. 

While Garrett never specifically threatened asking for a trade out of Cleveland, and while he made it clear winning in Cleveland is his first priority, he dropped enough subtle hints as to where his mind is and how much pressure is on the Browns to build a winner around him.

From longtime Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com:

“Well, for me, I mean first of all I want to win. I want the Browns to be able to put me and us in position to win. I’m not trying to rebuild. I’m trying to win right now. I want that to be apparent, when the season’s over and we have those discussions, I want them to be able to illuminate that for me, illustrate that for me, so that can be something that I can see in the near future. Because that’s all we want to do. I’m going to stay loyal to a team that showed loyalty to me and faith in me by drafting me."

He went on to say that players also have to do what is best for them and that he wants to be in a position to be playing meaningful football.

When asked directly if the Browns' vision does not align with his if he could envision seeing himself playing elsewhere, Garrett did not immediately reject the idea.

“I mean, it’s a possibility, but I want to be a Cleveland Brown. I want to play here, play my career here. But if we choose to do a rebuild and it’s two, three, four years out, I want be able to compete and play at a high level, play meaningful games and be playing past January.”

All of this should be sounding alarm bells for the Browns front office and ownership. 

Garrett is the best player the Browns have had since rejoining the NFL in 1999 and is one of the best players in football. He is also still very much in the prime of his career and still has several elite years in front of him. 

But during his time in Cleveland, he has appeared in just three playoff games (in two different seasons), winning only one of them.  The 2024 season has been an extraordinarily disappointing one that has the Browns at 3-11 going into this weekend's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

The Browns' problem is that they have many needs — none bigger than the quarterback position. Their situation is also going to be one of the biggest obstacles in turning this around. They are pretty much locked into an unmovable contract with Deshaun Watson, and Jameis Winston is not any sort of a long-term answer and is set to be a free agent after this season. Kirk Cousins could be an option on the cheap, as could a first-round pick in the draft (even if this is a down year for quarterbacks at the top of the draft).

Great players want to win. The Browns have a great player in Garrett and have not really surrounded him with a playoff-caliber team throughout his career. The message is now very clear that they have to start doing that sooner rather than later if he is going to continue playing for them.