Despite seemingly being at an impasse, the Browns and defensive star Myles Garrett have reportedly found their way back together. After trade demands rang loud not long ago, ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report that Garrett will now remain in Cleveland on an extension that will pay him $40MM per year with $123.5MM in guaranteed money. The four-year extension will keep the 29-year-old in Cleveland through the 2030 season and makes Garret the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. 
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the six years left on the contract have a total value of $204.8MM, including $100MM paid out in the first three years, $88.8MM in execution guarantees, and $122.8MM in total guarantees. The biggest addition to the contract drawing attention from the league media: a no-trade clause. Garrett had two years remaining on his previous deal, but a lack of guaranteed money in those years was a major sticking point for the former Defensive Player of the Year.
A little over a month ago, Garrett sent NFL rumors flying in every direction by requesting a trade. Just over a week ago, Garrett seemingly closed the door on a return to Cleveland, with reports coming out that he was “not open” to an extension with the Browns. Even two days ago, we got reports that team owner Jimmy Haslam declined to even meet with Garrett. Per Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Garrett had made it clear that it wasn’t about the money, that he was adamant about leaving Cleveland because of a lack of belief in the Browns’ direction. Clearly, offering Garrett $40MM per year was the correct direction.
ESPN’s John Keim adds that, when Garrett first made his trade demands, the rest of the league felt it was just about working leverage for the extension. Cleveland never seemed to have any desire to trade their star defensive end. Regardless, the offers came flying in from around the league, with many first-round picks being made available to the Browns. The Browns brass was reportedly “confident all along,” per Mike Jones of The Athletic, that they would work out an extension rather than trade Garrett. They were right.
Garrett’s big payday comes only three days after the Raiders made defensive end Maxx Crosby the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL with an average annual value of $35.5MM. Garrett’s mark blows that out of the water, but even that might not last long. Elite pass rusher paydays continue to be on the way with the likes of Trey Hendrickson, T.J. Watt, and Aidan Hutchinson all in or approaching a period in which extensions will be considered.
Specifically on the hotseat are the Cowboys and Bengals, both of whom have made recent claims that they are prepared to make a star player the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Cincinnati would be doing so for wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase at a position which set a high, new bar when Justin Jefferson set the mark with $35MM per year last year.
Dallas has now backed themselves into a corner for the third time in a row on paying a big player. Last year, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys waited too long to extend both quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. By the time they finally worked out terms, several other players at those positions had continually pushed up the market price, forcing Dallas to settle for even more in their deals with Prescott and Lamb. Similarly, the team’s insistence on waiting until the last second to extend a star player has seen the price they would need to pay to hold on to Micah Parsons rise significantly.
As for Garrett, the price is well-deserved. With four first-team All-Pro selections, two second-team All-Pro selections, and six Pro Bowl selections, Garrett is widely recognized as a top pass rusher in the game. In the last four seasons, he’s finished as the top pass rusher, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), three times, finishing second this year. He has the most sacks in the league over the last three years (44.0) and the second-most in the league since he was drafted in 2017 (102.5) behind only Watt (108.0). His 102.5 sacks are also a franchise high for the Browns.
Garrett will continue to be an anchor on the Browns defense. Rumors that he wanted to join a contender will fall by the wayside for now as he returns to a defense that finished 28th in points allowed and 13th in sacks. The offense may be headed in another direction, though, as the team seems ready to move on from their last huge contract, given to quarterback Deshaun Watson, perhaps in pursuit of a rookie option. Regardless, Garrett will continue to do his job and dominate.
Guess everyone does have their price.
He will be paid a lot of money and with the most vacation time. Good for him.
I don’t think Garrett will be going to Disney land with this but it’s an insane deal to decline
Garrett must be ok with no super bowls
Guess everybody sat down and realized that the Browns were never going to get equal value and Garrett realized he had no power to make them trade him so if you’re stuck you can always ask for more money.
He may not go to Disneyland but he might be able to buy it.
I’m not gonna spend another day here! How much? Okay. lol
Cleveland Browns now home to the most overpaid players on offense and defense. Now if they could only find a special teamed to get the trifecta
Well I guess he wants 40 mil a year more than a chip, it’s all a business
I’m glad he didn’t join the lions because a supernova would’ve been created with him and Hutchinson
From a Lions perspective, it would have been financial suicide. They have a lot of young players coming up for new contracts.
Nice caving by Cleveland
Browns gonna do what Browns gonna do. Dumpster fire of a franchise.
Must really, really need the money to remain in the Factory of Sadness.
In a couple of years Cleveland’s going to have serious cap problems
I don’t fault him for taking the money; I would. He signed away any chances he ever had of winning a championship with this contract, though.
Or any contract anywhere. He’s 29 and chances are slim that he wasn’t gonna win a Championship. There’s literally 5 teams that have a legitimate chance….so do the math
It feels a bit premature to say there are only five teams with a legitimate shot to win a championship before the off-season has started. I think there are teams that Garrett would have pushed into the conversation, too. Moot point now, though.
Hilarious
Being such a dumpster fire that you have to CONSTANTLY reset the markets to get or keep people is not a winning formula.
To say the least.
That’s pretty much it. I do think he wanted out, but his agent probably told him, forget it, because of cap issues and then suggested an alternative: get paid a ton of money by the Browns.
Does this mean he’s ok with not meeting with the owner?
If I were Myles, I’d be much more interested in meeting Halle Berry who is a native Clevelander. Haslam is from Tennessee.
Not sure this closes the door on a sign and trade. I wonder what the contract structure is.
Zero chance you can trade a guy immediately after giving him those kinds of guarantees, especially for a team in their cap situation.
The article states they added a no trade clause in the contract. He isn’t getting traded.
Garrett could have been traded to good team and gotten his money. Have fun winning nothing. Somewhere Jerry Jones is going nuts. Parsons is smiling.
He had no leverage on where was going to
Of course he has some leverage. He says “im going to holdout and not play for you until i have to.” Are you giving up multiple 1st round picks for someone to play what half the season and still pay them a ton for it? He is one of the few active players that could command that.
It would have been painful enough both for the cap and the PR for them to trade him that it would be hard to get enough in return to make it worthwhile. Makes sense that his consolation prize would have to be an eye popping number. Good on the Raiders for extending Crosby before this hit. The Cowboys once again have waited for the market rate to go up before taking care of business.
Yeah… Jerry Jones strikes again for the cowboys..that Parsons deal is going to set records
Speaking of eye popping, Jerry Jones eyes just blew out of his head.
Are the Browns back to drafting a QB now?
This might be the draft class where you can find another Johnny Manziel without expending a lot of effort scouting 🙂
Please brad Holmes lock hutch up now .. using B.Burns (30 mil) as a floor and Now Garrett as a ceiling (40 mil) this is getting crazy..
Guess it was all about the money. No ring for you!
The real winner here is Micah Parsons. Jerruh waited too long to pay his guy again!
He will be demanding a trade in two years when the high of the deal wears off.
Lmao Super Bowl contender my ass dude wanted that money more than a ring lmao
Cleveland will obviously not be contending for a title any time soon. As good as Garrett is, I’d have traded him. It would have been an okay start to offsetting the Watson debacle. As it stands, keeping him around doesn’t move the needle for The Browns.
“Garrett had made it clear that it wasn’t about the money, that he was adamant about leaving Cleveland because of a lack of belief in the Browns’ direction. Clearly, offering Garrett $40MM per year was the correct direction.”
Now that is a funny statement!
Maybe the writers will do that more. Humor is always good, especially when it comes to anything involving the Browns.
It’s ALWAYS about the money, and ONLY about the money. It’s ALWAYS just a job no matter what else is ever said or reported.
Good for him for getting his bag, but I guess winning was never really important to him. He won’t even sniff the playoffs during that contract.
A the Brown’s now have no chance you can’t over pay one and not care about the rest of the team.
Now go bring in Von Miller.
Why? He’s cooked and, based on last year’s playoff performance, you can see he’s focused on padding his stats, not being a team player.
Boy, really love it when the dumbest team in the league keeps setting the market for new positions
Could see this outcome coming from MYLES away.
Wow what a waste of money …
He will decline long before this expires. Crazy
“When did I ever question this organization’s vision? I suddenly don’t remember that. It seems solid to me”
MG
Guess they are not picking Carter
I disagree. They should absolutely draft a dominant DE to pair with Myles.
Must have swung his helmet at Haslam to get deal done
So it was more about the money and being the highest paid DE than the winning and playing in SB’s for him
He just stuck it to Jerry Jones. You know Micah is going to insist on beating this deal and also getting that No-Trade.
Does Cleveland even have a plan other than to be terrible and a worse salary cap situation than the Saints?
Crap. I was really hoping he’d land somewhere outside of the NFC North. No fun going up against that dude twice a season.
Why? I watch almost all of Cleveland’s games and 90% of his sacks come after the game is already way out of hand. He rarely impacts the game in any real way but racks up stats that look good but are totally meaningless. Goes on disappearing acts in every big game.
Would rather have a Hutchison, Parsons, Crosby, Watt or probably a dozen other players than Garrett. But Browns gonna Brown.
Well he did land outside the NFC north
Cleveland is in the AFC.
Oops. Meant AFC North. Put it on my tab.
Don’t worry, the Browns will pick up the tab.
I’m taking the Browns to the Super Bowl right now.
You win the day, sir.
This is a win win for Cleveland.
They keep their best player since Jim Brown, and they look like an organization who takes care of their players.
That’s a very important thing right before free agency starts.
They still have the #2 overall pick.
You think the fact that they gave Garrett a massive deal is going to impact the minds of impending FA?
FA want paid. Some want to WIN. Culture and coaching is important to some. I don’t think many say hey they gave a ton of money to Watson and Garrett and say I’m going to sign there.
You think players weren’t looking at the situation and thinking about how much they didn’t want to play for Cleveland?
Yeah! You bet! Am organization that pays 37% of their entire cap on a DE and a QB that can’t/ won’t even play? Yeah, CLE has it all coming together folks! Better jump on that Bandwagon now before it fills up!
Better than the image prospective free agents probably had of them this week prior to this news.
He was all about the desire to win being everything but…..
Dude is as fraudulent as he is talented.
If they flat refused to trade him, he might as well get a huge payday.
Yep! Absolute HYPOCRITE
Don’t hide behind wanting to win, just say you wanted to get paid. Browns have been a nothing org and will continue to be for his career.
What a failure of a franchise
can’t imagine why other teams don’t follow Cleveland’s financial example ?
Amazing….money shuts even the loudest of voices…..all about a money grab whether it was the Browns or forcing a move to another team……guess he doesn’t mind losing so much if he’s gettin the pay…..
They just want to amass mega contracts setting records rather than..win?
I’ve been a life long Browns fan, and I’ll support the team through thick and thin no matter how annoyingly frustrating that may be. But they’re the George Costanza of the NFL. They need to do the opposite of every instinct they have and maybe THEN they’ll have a chance at success.
This team is screwed for the next couple of seasons anyway with the Watson contract. And by the time they’re FINALLY out from under that contract, Garrett will start his decline and they’ll be trapped under that contract until 2030 because of the no trade clause. Or perhaps he’ll hold out in a year or two and force a trade to a team of his choosing severely limiting the return. Or, most likely, he’ll just be released once the guaranteed money is done and we’ll get nothing for him.
Garrett gave them an out by demanding this trade. Get a couple of firsts for him then trade back to pick up another first next year. Then tank this year with DTR as your QB and draft your franchise QB next year to coincide with being out from under the Watson contract. It was almost set up too perfectly. Maybe we’ll hear about an extension for Watson soon as well.
bravo, Mr Garrett, bravo
and kudos to your agent
Do I have this right?
Two guys = 30.5% of the cap
51 other guys = 69.5% of the cap
That franchise is a mess from top to bottom. They will go and do something totally Browns-like and draft Shaedur Sanders and then in 2026 be wondering why they don’t have a QB
What a hypocrite! I actually felt sorry for this guy for a few weeks, saying the Browns should just give the guy a chance at winning. But no no no, it was ALLLLLL about the Benjamins in the end! It was so poetic when he said he didn’t want to go straight from CLE to Canton. Well that was all horse BS. And now with what the Browns are paying Faster Garrett and Watson (LMAO) they aren’t gonna be competitive for a long bit. Enjoy your $40M and being 3-14 till you retire!
Guess it’s not about winning after all. Lol. The Browns are so screwed money wise, they’ll never win anything.
Lol. Smart thing would have been to get every pick they could for him and dump his cost. They are in such a hole money wise they can’t pay anyone else. And Watson sucks will never do anything while they keep making his money worse moving it. Now 2 guys are eating 40 percent of the cap. Neither of which can make this team a winner.
I’ve said it since the beginning. It was always about money. I guarantee that Maxx Crosby signing an extension with the Raiders gave the Browns an idea of what the market would be, and they used that as a benchmark to extend Garrett.
But it will be interesting from this point forward to see how they build a team with little to no additional cap room.