On the morning of Friday March 9th Cleveland Browns defensive end and 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett once again went public with news regarding his relationship with his employer the Cleveland Browns. He let it be known that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam declined to meet with the disgruntled franchise player. Myles Garrett did formally request to meet with team ownership after the Cleveland Browns declined his trade request. Many in both local and national media see this development as a negative. I on the other hand see this as a positive. And this is what a functional organization looks like and does in these situations.

This ordeal started when Myles Garrett went public on his trade request from the Cleveland Browns on the Monday before the Super Bowl in New Orleans. During the Super Bowl media week Myles Garrett did a series of interviews on radio row. The more he spoke about his request to be traded the worse he looked. The reason for him even going public to begin with is that he has no leverage in this situation, and he knows it. He is still under contract for two more years and Cleveland can franchise tag him for two more years after that. He understands that his best bet is to go public and hope that pressures the Browns into trading him.  And that strategy is appearing to backfire on Garrett.

Since early February of 2025, Cleveland Browns fans are showing less sympathy for Garrett. He appears to be abandoning the fans that stood by him during his 2019 suspension. Meanwhile the Cleveland Browns remain steadfast in their stance of not trading Myles Garrett. They are so steadfast that the owner would not let Garrett go over the team’s general manager’s head. Haslam would not circumvent the team’s chain of command. A good life lesson is to remember that if you ever bluff, be prepared to have your bluff called. Myles Garrett has stated that he is prepared to sit out and miss games. And the Cleveland Browns are prepared to call Garrett’s bluff. Go ahead Myles “make our day”!