Browns’ Myles Garrett says team’s ‘instability’ led to trade request

NEW ORLEANS — Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said his decision to request a trade ultimately came down to how the past season unfolded. 

“It was just a matter of cumulative buildup with how the season went and the instability that we had leading up to the end of the season,” Garrett told USA TODAY Sports on Radio Row in New Orleans on Wednesday, two days after officially requesting a trade from the franchise that drafted him first overall in 2017.

Cleveland finished the year with a 3-14 record in Garrett’s eighth season with the team, marking the Browns’ worst finish since their winless 0-16 season during his rookie campaign in 2017.

“I needed to relax, decompress and take some time to think about it with my family and allow myself to distance myself from the last game,’ Garrett said. ‘After conversations with (my family) and still feeling the same way about the trajectory of the team, and also speaking with (the Browns) management about the near future and our success and playoff hopes, I felt like it was time for a transition.”

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Throughout Garrett’s eight-year tenure in Cleveland, he’s racked up six Pro Bowl berths, four All-Pro nods and the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year honor, but he’s only reached the playoffs twice, most recently during the 2023 season. 

“I haven’t particularly got as close as I’ve wanted,’ he added.

Garrett said he’s looking to join a team that gives him the ‘opportunity to win and contend” now. When asked if there’s a particular destination where he wants to land, Garrett said he has “multiple contenders” in mind.  

“I just want an opportunity to go to one of them and take them over the top to elevate them as a team and be a great teammate and a leader,” Garrett said. “Go to the playoffs and make a run at the Super Bowl. I want to be out there to display my talent and bring a trophy home to a city.”

In a statement declaring his trade request on Monday, Garrett wrote, “The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”

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