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Daniel Oyefusi, ESPN
BEREA, Ohio — Despite enduring another season of double-digit losses, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett wants to continue his career in Cleveland.
But the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year wants to know definitively that the Browns have a plan to place him on a winning team soon.
Garrett said Friday that he has no desire for a rebuild and wants to speak to the organization’s decision-makers about its offseason plans, including at quarterback.
“I’m not trying to rebuild,” he said. “I’m trying to win right now. And I want that to be apparent when the season is over and we have those discussions. I want them to be able to illuminate, illustrate that for me so that can be something I can see in the near future. Because that’s all we want to do.
“I want to stay loyal to a team that showed loyalty to me and faith in me by drafting me. But we have to do, at the end of the day, what’s best for us. So, if we have that alignment where this is something that is still possible in the near future — winning, going deep in the playoffs, putting a great defense out there … I think that would really keep my mind at rest and keep me settled.”
Garrett, 28, has two years remaining on the five-year extension he signed in 2020. A new deal in the offseason could provide the Browns much-needed cap relief. Garrett has played in just three playoff games since Cleveland selected him with the top pick in the 2017 draft.
Last week, Garrett expressed support for head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, who have led the organization since the 2020 season.
But on Friday, Garrett was more vocal in his desire to see the team’s plans.
When asked if those plans included the quarterback position, Garrett said, “Absolutely. Whether [quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson] is the solution or someone else is, it’s got to be drawn out. There’s got to be a plan of action.”
On Sunday, the Browns will start Thompson-Robinson, a 2023 fifth-round pick, for the recently benched Jameis Winston. Thompson-Robinson will be the third quarterback too start for the Browns this season and the 40th since the franchise moved back to Cleveland in 1999.
Deshaun Watson, for whom the organization traded three first-round picks and gave a fully guaranteed $230 million contract before the 2022 season, sustained a season-ending right Achilles tendon tear in Week 7. He has posted the lowest QBR among qualifying passers since making his debut in Cleveland.
“I want to be a Cleveland Brown. I want to play here. I want to end my career here,” Garrett said. “But if we choose to do a rebuild and it’s two, three, four years out, I want to be able to compete and play at a high level, play meaningful games and be playing past January.”
