Myles Garrett just had one of the greatest defensive seasons in NFL history and trade rumors are already swirling around him again.
The Cleveland Browns pass rusher set a new single-season sack record in 2025 with 23.0 sacks and has 125.5 for his career making him the franchise’s all-time leader in that category.
Seven Pro Bowl appearances, five First-team All-Pro honors and back-to-back NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2025 round out a resume that puts him in the conversation with the best to ever do it. So, when news broke about adjustments to his contract, social media ran with it.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
The speculation picked up in late March after the Browns made tweaks to Garrett’s existing deal. Some took that as a signal that a trade could be in the works. However, Andrew Berry shut that down quickly.
According to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, the Browns general manager addressed local media for approximately 30 minutes during league meetings held in Phoenix. During that session, Berry was asked about the rationale behind recent modifications to Myles Garrett’s contract language.
“If we wanted to trade Myles, we wouldn’t have needed to make a contract adjustment. So it doesn’t have anything to do with that,” Berry said. “Myles is a career Brown. He is one of the faces of our organization. I think we’ve been very clear both past and present.”
Browns GM Andrew Berry just met with local reporters at the league meetings in Phoenix for about 30 min.
When asked about modifying the language in Myles Garrett’s contract, he wouldn’t explain why but said: “lf we wanted to trade Myles, we wouldn’t have needed to make a…— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) March 29, 2026
Cleveland has been here before. Back in early 2025, Garrett publicly requested a trade, making clear he wanted to compete for Super Bowls while still in his prime. He took that message to multiple media appearances before eventually changing course. The Browns responded with a four-year $160 million extension and Garrett responded by winning his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
This latest round of contract adjustments is more technical than dramatic. The total value of that $160 million deal stays the same. What changed is the timing of his option bonus which now gets processed seven days before each season rather than 15 days into the league year between 2026 and 2030.
That shift gives Cleveland more cap flexibility from 2027 through 2030 allowing the front office more room to maneuver later in the offseason without early financial pressure.
In short the Browns bought themselves more breathing room. Nothing about Garrett’s earning changes and Berry made it clear the franchise has no interest in moving on from its cornerstone defender.
Related: Andy Reid Sends Strong Message on Chiefs QB Justin Fields
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
