Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns
Getty
Myles Garrett #95 of the Cleveland Browns
One of the gaps in the theory that the Cleveland Browns made alterations to the contract of defensive end Myles Garrett last week for the purpose of trading him centered on coach Todd Monken. Remember, Monken had a fairly successful partnership with head coach John Harbaugh in Baltimore before both were fired by the Ravens after last season, and Monken was set to join Harbaugh on a surely lucrative new deal with the Giants after he was hired there.
Instead, Monken got the job with the Browns, and presumably, he did not take the gig in Cleveland to undergo a full rebuild. One of the attractions of the Browns job is the top-shelf defense, which was rated No. 2 overall by Pro Football Focus last year. If that group can repeat its performance, and the Browns’ league-worst offense can improve enough to land around the league average, Cleveland could be a playoff team again in 2026.
But that can’t happen without Garrett. And Monken, it seems, knows it.
Todd Monken ‘Can’t Envision’ Browns Without Myles Garrett
Speaking to NFL Network on Monday evening from the owners meetings in Arizona, Monken was adamant about the notion of trading Myles Garrett, arguably the best all-around player in the NFL.
From Tom Pelissero of NFL Media: “New Browns coach Todd Monken echoed that just now on@nflnetwork, telling me: ‘I don’t see a time where I would not want Myles Garrett part of our team. I don’t — I can’t even envision that, where I would not want Myles Garrett to be a Cleveland Brown.'”
Myles Garrett a ‘Face of the Organization’
This came after GM Andrew Berry told Browns reporters on Sunday night that he unequivocally has no intention of trading Garrett, who, of course, set the NFL’s single-season sack record last year with 23.0.
Berry said it is his policy not to discuss “contract management” publicly out of respect for the players involved, though it is interesting that the details about Garrett’s changes managed to leak to ESPN’s Field Yates anyway. Garrett, rather famously, made a public trade demand during the Super Bowl in 2025, which was eventually withdrawn after the Browns gave him a record-setting $160 million, four-year contract.
“Myles is a career Brown,” Berry said. “He is one of the faces of our organization. I think we’ve been very clear both past and present in terms of our feelings. I understand all the questions. I’ll be honest, I don’t really want to waste a ton more breath on the topic.”
Todd Monken, Cleveland Browns coach
GettyTodd Monken, Cleveland Browns coach
Browns Trade Can’t Be Completely Ruled Out
The counterargument to all of this is that the Browns would, and should, be saying these exact thing if they were seeking to trade Garrett. They’d want to keep that fact under wraps so as to create the strongest possible market for him. And if Monken is hoping to rebuild the Browns into a potential contender rather than a team that can make the playoffs, trading Garrett–in the first year of his tenure, especially–makes some sense.
Fact is, there does not seem to be any benefit to the reported changes that were made to Garrett’s contract other than to make him a bit easier to trade–though Berry pointed out he could have traded Garrett without the changes, too. But Berry did not explain the purpose of the changes, and that leaves open the speculation that the Browns could move Garrett.
For now, though, both Monken and Berry are sticking with their strong denials.