The Cleveland Browns close out their year on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, but the looming headline won’t be centered around whether or not they can leave their regular-season final with a victory over an AFC North rival.
Instead, all eyes will be on All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett, who is just one sack away from cementing his name in the top spot on the NFL’s all-time sack list.
Myles Garrett Doesn’t Want A Rebuild
There may be no one in the league better at their particular position than Garrett is at his. Of his nine years spent with the Browns since joining the team in 2017, Garrett has surpassed double-digit sacks in eight of them. The only exception is his rookie season.
At 30 years old, Garrett is on the doorstep of history. Sitting at 22 sacks on the season, he’s tied with three other players for the second-most in a single campaign. T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Michael Strahan, who spent 15 years with the New York Giants, are tied at the top spot with 22.5. Strahan accomplished that feat in 16 games while Watt did it in 15.
Garrett will be playing in his 17th game this Sunday for the 4-12 Browns. But as there typically is with star players who are entering the twilight of their prime years, questions remain around whether or not he’ll want to remain in limbo playing for a mediocre Browns team.
After Friday’s practice, Garrett spoke to members of the Cleveland media and made it clear that an organizational rebuild isn’t something that he’d want to participate in. The reality of the situation is that the Browns, who have started three different quarterbacks under center this season, appear to be in a constant state of flirting with irrelevance.
“I’m committed to winning,” he said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “If the team owners are trying to do and committed to that same thing, then I’m all on board. But if we’re thinking anything other than winning, tanking or rebuilding, that’s not me.”
In his six seasons playing under head coach Kevin Stefanski, Garrett has only seen the postseason twice, with a lone playoff win. By the time this season concludes, the Browns will have notched consecutive years with five or fewer wins after finishing 3-14 in 2024.
Myles Garrett was asked if he wanted to see continuity with Kevin Stefanski and the Browns coaching staff.
“I want things to be successful, however that looks” 🧐🧐🧐 pic.twitter.com/yPjA6f4BPK
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) January 2, 2026
Every team experiences ups and downs, but under Stefanski, Garrett said there’s been more downs than ups.
“I would have loved to make a little more noise in some different years, especially this year, with how well we’ve been playing on defense,” he said, according to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “But it just wasn’t in the cards. Got to continue to grow and find ways to improve. This team has too many talented individuals not to.”
The Browns currently hold the No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, and they’re projected to be just north of $5.3 million under the salary cap for next season, according to Spotrac.
