Browns fans were caught off guard by the announcement that Myles Garrett demand to be traded. Cleveland’s front office knew about it and refused his request. What didn’t make sense was the press tour he took this week. The fact that he was there wasn’t the issue, he was in New Orleans because of the NFL awards banquet, and he was a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. The media blitz to promote himself as a tradable asset was eye opening. I bet his fellow Browns teammates and the Cleveland’s front office are feeling a little betrayed right now. The last time Garrett discussed his future was on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” when he expressed confidence in the talent on the Browns roster and the plan moving forward to contend in 2025. Prior to making his desire to be traded he knew he had no leverage for a trade and if traded it would destroy the Browns salary cap for years to come. I wrote an article this week explaining the consequences of such a trade, https://www.ffsn.com/the-fanatical-elfz-network/why-the-browns-wont-trade-myles-garrett-browns/. So, what happened?

Garrett is represented by Klutch Sports Group. Klutch was founded in 2012 by Rich Paul and is primarily know as an NBA sports agency groups due to the list of NBA players they represent, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Darius Garland, Lonzo Ball and Draymond Green to name a few. The agency does represent NFL players most notably Jalen Hurts, DeAndre Hopkins and Myles Garrett. Most of their NFL clients are in the realm of Odell Beckham, Jr., Donovan Peoples-Jones and Jedrick Wills. Beckham still has name recognition but is hardly the player he used to be, Peoples-Jones is at best a practice squad player and Wills will be lucky to receive a one-year prove it deal for 2025. My point is, right now, Garrett is one of the agency’s most high-profile NFL players. If Klutch Sports Group wanted to make bigger inroads onto NFL representation, why not use one its biggest stars during one of the biggest sports weeks of the year, Super Bowl week. To sports agents, the NFL is the biggest and best way to make great revenue because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the league and the players union.

Some have speculated that Garrett wants to be involved in the process to move the team into contention, similar to how an NBA superstars would make demands to their team’s front office. Darius Garland at one time threatened to demand a trade if the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Donovan Mitchell to an extension. In the NFL, players don’t get involved in front office decisions, unless they’re a quarterback. And even then, it probably won’t work. Aaron Rogers, after being signed by the New York Jets, let the team’s front office know which players he would like them to sign. It didn’t work out. The NFL is different. There’s a delicate balance between agents and front offices. This past year, the Browns did their best to trade both wide receiver Amari Cooper and defensive end Za’Darius Smith to contenders. Their agents appreciated the gesture, and other agents took notice how the Browns accommodated both Cooper and Smith. Previously, Klutch Sports Group had worked out an extension for Garrett worth $125 million with $100 million guaranteed and $50 million in upfront cash. The best way for Klutch to garner more NFL players as clients is to negotiate an extension to make Myles Garrett the highest paid defensive player in the league, an extension that was being worked on, prior to Garrett’s demands. I still maintain Garrett won’t be traded, Browns GM Andrew Berry won’t destroy the team’s financial future because of one player receiving bad advice.