BEREA, Ohio — It’s been a rough year for the Cleveland Browns (3-10), who started the year with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations and now sit in the basement of the AFC North, eliminated playoffs.
But the good news for them this season? NFL star player of the year and defensive player of the year Myles Garrett made his case for repeating the award and continues to want to spend the rest of his career in Cleveland despite the struggles.
He also continues to have faith in general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, echoing comments made by owner Jimmy Haslam to ESPN earlier this week.
“You have those guys there leading the organizational charge, so if they’re here, I think the right pieces are in place, that will always give me confidence,” Garrett said Friday. “As long as it goes like this, I want to be here and I’ll be happy to play with Cleveland. So we all have to be moving in the right direction, we all have to be on the same page, and until then, I’ll be here happily playing for the team that drafted me.
Garrett has 11 sacks this season, tied for second in the league with Denver’s Nik Bonitto and just behind Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson (12.5). He also had three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 35 total tackles. Against the Eagles, he also blocked a field goal attempt.
He’s at 99.5 sacks for his career and has a chance to reach 100 against the Chiefs and one of the best in the game with Patrick Mahomes on Sunday.
But while Garrett continued to dominate, the Browns failed in almost every other area en route to a disappointing 3-10.
“As far as the team goes, no, I don’t think we’re on the same page,” Garrett said. “This probably represents the majority of the dysfunctions that we observed on the ground. Organizationally, I mean, the goals have aligned all season. It’s just the play and execution that wasn’t there. »
Leaving the NFL’s annual meeting in Las Colinas, Texas, Haslam said Cleveland has the right pieces in place in Berry and Stefanski.
“I do. We do. We’re very supportive,” he told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Haslam signed both men to multi-year contract extensions during training camp. But he also admitted to being baffled by the Browns’ poor record in 2024.
“We went from 11-6 and made the playoffs to 3-10, so what happened is a little perplexing,” Haslam continued.
Garrett admitted Friday that the fact that the Browns aren’t contenders this year is “frustrating.”
But he also added that while it may seem confusing on the surface, it’s understandable how last year’s 11-6 team got here.
“But it’s something we recognized early in the season,” Garrett said. “It wasn’t going to be like last season, especially defensively, the guys saw what we were good at, they had a whole year to study and really break down what we do best, so we need to move on to another level, and we didn’t do it.
“So I don’t think it’s as confusing as we make it out to be, it’s just that when you look at the outside and you see the result, it’s hard to understand how we got here. But when we breaks down the whole film, we look at how often we fight, we put ourselves in bad positions, that’s what bad teams do.
As the Browns continued to decline this season, Garrett insisted players found their “why” when it came to finding something to still play for amid all the losing.
On a personal level, he lived up to his message. Before their win over Pittsburgh, Garrett remembered TJ Watt disrespecting his Defensive Player of the Year win in February, and frothed up enough to come away with three sacks in that game. He also talked about wanting to destroy his opponents’ dreams to the end.
In these final four games of the year, one of his missions will be to make sure his teammates all find their own “why” as the playoffs are now out of reach.
“Just try to explain this to them as much and as often as possible,” Garrett said. “This is your resume. Everyone is going to watch this, from your family to this team to everyone in the NFL. There’s no guarantee you’ll be here for your entire career, but teams will watch this film and use it to define you for the rest of your time in the league.
“So never take a photo for granted, never take a second for granted. So go out there, practice as hard as you can and make those big plays. You want to be memorable to the guys you play with, your peers, and the coaches and organizations who are willing to take a chance on you.
As for these coaches and this organization, it’s fortunate for everyone that they remain in Garrett’s good graces.
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