Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has spent nine seasons with the team. And while he wants to stay, his commitment comes with a caveat.
He wants to win.
More accurately, he wants the Browns to show him that they have a plan for winning.
“I’m not trying to rebuild,” Garrett told reporters on Friday, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. “I’m trying to win right now. And I want that to be apparent when the season is over and we have those discussions. I want them to be able to illuminate, illustrate that for me so that can be something I can see in the near future.”
It’s going to be hard to do it, given that $92 million in cash — and many more millions in cap dollars — remain committed to quarterback Deshaun Watson, the centerpiece of the worst trade-and-sign in NFL history. Beyond the key players the Browns sacrificed to acquire him, the $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract makes it harder to pay others.
Garrett, like Watson, is signed for two more years. If the Browns don’t sufficiently persuade Garrett that they have a plan for winning sooner than later, why wouldn’t he want out?
The clock is ticking on his career; he turns 29 in only nine days.
And so the ball is in Cleveland’s court. Can they persuade Garrett that there’s a path to winning, even with the added weight of the Watson trade?
