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Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns

We can all agree, it would seem, that the situation bubbling up around star Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is a little odd. Sure, it’s not all that unusual for a player of Garrett’s caliber to be sitting out of a team’s OTAs–they are voluntary, after all, and top players skip them every year–but it is unusual that Garrett has not, nearly four months after the hiring of Todd Monken, sat down for a meeting with the new coach. Or even shaken his hand. Or even talked to him by phone.

By Monken’s own admission, the most contact he has had with Garrett to this point has been a text message. When asked again this week at OTAs whether he had met Garrett, Monken was clearly annoyed by the question and simply said, “No.”

Again, that in itself is not cause for alarm. But it’s weird, at the very least, that the Browns’ best player has not deigned to trek to Northeast Ohio for a day or two to meet with the man selected to lead the franchise for the foreseeable future. Coupled with the fact that the Browns tweaked Garrett’s contract in March, a move that made him easier to trade, and there’s little wonder why the questions about Garrett’s future linger.

‘Browns Are a Value-Based Team’

Humbug to that, though, says ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, who seems to have no reason to think that Garrett and the Browns are headed for a trade. Speaking on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Fowler said nothing is impossible, but there is no reason to think that Garrett’s on the move.

Asked about chatter around a Garrett trade, Fowler said: “I am operating as if that is put to bed and he is not traded. The Browns are a value-based team. So if they get great value for Myles Garrett, I could see it. But, I don’t know what Andrew Berry has said publicly about whether he has closed the door or not, if it’s been said or whatever. I don’t know off hand but I would be shocked if they traded him based on all the indications I have gotten.

“They’re still all-in on him. He is the best player in the league probably at any position right now. They know that. Unless there is some sort of silent protest he is going through right now, but he is 14 months removed from a mega-deal, I would be very surprised.”

Myles Garrett Has Not Asked for a Trade

Indeed, Garrett only last winter signed a four-year, $160 million contract with the Browns after he protested in search of a trade out of Cleveland so that he could perform for a contender. He would certainly not be the first player who had a change of heart a year into a contract (teams have changes of heart on players regularly) but there has been no hard evidence that Garrett wants out of Cleveland.

Given how vocal he was about his dissatisfaction with the team back in 2025, it can be assumed he would not be afraid to voice a trade request now if that is what he wants, especially with a change in coaches and the loss of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, and assistant Garrett liked and trusted. No one would blame Garrett for asking out.

He has not done so, not yet, at least. Until he has, as Fowler said, maybe it’s best if the rumors remained in bed.