PALM BEACH, Fla. — There was a moment — many of them, actually — where things looked like they were teetering on the brink of entering burnt bridges territory between the Browns and defensive end Myles Garrett.
There was the whole public trade demand in the first place, coupled with a Super Bowl Radio Row appearance a few days later by Garrett where he doubled down on wanting to be on a “contender.” It all built up in a crescendo to where it was coming out that he reached out to Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam to get involved, only to be told no by them.
What never ended up happening was either the bridges being burned or Garrett being traded. Instead, the four-time All-Pro pass rusher and the Browns agreed to a new four-year, $160 million extension on March 9.
“These kind of situations are emotional,” Jimmy Haslam told a small group of Browns beat writers, including the Beacon Journal, during the NFL owners meetings this week. “People say things and I think you have to realize it’s not just the player. There’s an agent, there’s an agency who are working that process behind the scenes and they’re really good at it. They’re really effective at it. And we’re just glad it worked out. And I had a long conversation with Myles the day after he signed and it was very positive.
“And listen, Myles was frustrated last year, but hell, so are we and we’re all frustrated, OK. And I’m glad he cares enough to be frustrated. We look forward to him being with us for a long time to come.”
Everything came to a head two days before the extension became public. That’s when it came out Garrett had reached out to the Haslams to try and get a meeting with them, only to be rebuffed and told to speak with general manager Andrew Berry.
There was some criticism of Haslam from some corners for not getting involved considering the stature of Garrett within the organization. However, Jimmy Haslam said that’s not how he and his wife wanted to operate.
“Listen, philosophically Dee and I feel, and our organization feels really strongly, that if you’re going to talk to a player, we don’t say ‘Mary Kay, tell Myles this,'” Jimmy Haslam said. “And so our conversation is direct. Same with elected officials. We don’t say ‘Tony, could you talk to the such and such elected official?’ It’s much better for those conversations to be one-on-one.”
The most “personal” attack seemed to come in Garrett’s public trade statement. He used the phrase, “The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”
That phrase seemed to be a shot at Berry. who had said on multiple occasions that he felt Garrett would “have a direct ticket from Cleveland to Canton” when his career was over. Berry, though, never saw any of the public discourse as personal.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t describe it as a cold war,” Berry told a small group of Browns beat writers, including the Beacon Journal, on Sunday at The Breakers. “I know that’s how it was in thought of in terms of how it’s portrayed publicly and everything like that, but we didn’t really have any animosity towards Myles or his camp. Look, I’ve known Myles since he was 21 years old and that relationship will span beyond his football career with the Browns.
“There are just certain types of situations that you get through in professional sports where you have to work through them day by day and week by week. But we’re really happy to have him for the long term and he’s a big part of our organization, a big part of what we’re going to do next year and a big part of what we’re going to do in the future.”
That’s why Berry was very public in all comments during the dispute saying the Browns had no intentions of trading away Garrett.
Last season, the 29-year-old rewrote NFL records for sacks, which became an official statistic in 1982, when he became the first player to post at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons. Also, he joined Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor as the only players to post at least 12 sacks in five consecutive seasons and became the youngest player to join the 100-sack club. Garrett enters the 2025 season with 102.5 career sacks.
Berry also knew he had the full support of ownership when he made those statements. Those statements are all in the past now.
“We had a lot of conversations about it and there was never serious thought to trade Myles,” Jimmy Haslam said. “I mean, what we know we have in Myles is a Hall of Famer. Myles just turned (29) if I remember, I think in December. He’s probably got five or six really good years in him and is a dominant player who coaches have to game plan for and we value that. We want him to stay here and retire with us, et cetera, et cetera. So it was never really a serious thought.“
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
