Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is excited to play Aaron Rodgers twice a year. The Browns' star sack artist was asked Tuesday at minicamp about facing the new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.
Garrett didn't mince words.
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"Good opportunity to put him in the graveyard," he said.
Garrett is looking to make good on the massive contract extension he signed with Cleveland this offseason. Back in March, the 29-year-old inked a deal that will pay him an average annual salary of $40 million over four years and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Now the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history, Garrett is hungry to add to his career 102.5 sack total. The 2017 No. 1 overall pick and Texas A&M product finished second in the league with 14 sacks last season. He's logged 12 or more sacks each of the past five seasons, including the 2023 campaign when he won NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Garrett will be joined by this year's No. 5 overall pick, defensive tackle Mason Graham. A menace on the defensive interior at Michigan, Graham accounted for 34 pressures in 2024 and 29 more during the Wolverines' national championship run in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus.
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Together, they'll hunt quarterbacks such as Rodgers.
Rodgers signed a one-year deal with the Steelers ahead of the team's mandatory minicamp. The contract is worth $13.65 million, with $10 million guaranteed, per multiple reports. It could pay as much as $19.5 million with incentives.
Following an adverse two-season stay in New York with the Jets, Rodgers is looking to finish his career in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are searching for their first playoff win since 2016.
Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP, except he hasn't won that award, or come close to winning it, since he claimed the honor in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021. He missed practically the entire 2023 season, his first in New York, with an Achilles injury suffered on his fourth offensive snap of the year. In 2024, he threw for 3,897 yards — but averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt — totaling 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while the Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh five games in and finished 5-12.
The pressure will be on Pittsburgh's offensive line to give Rodgers time to throw this season, especially against a confident Myles Garrett and a head-turning Cleveland Browns defensive line.