Browns' Myles Garrett: No hard feelings after trade demand, contract extension

BEREA — The mini dinosaurs lined across the dais weren't the only things extinct Friday. So, too, was any lingering contentiousness or bad blood from Myles Garrett's trade demand standoff-turned-contract extension with the Cleveland Browns.

At least, that's how Garrett said he feels. He also said he doesn't think he needs to make amends to those who might have been offended by his stance he wanted to be somewhere where he could win the Super Bowl.

"No, I mean, from day one I've always said that I've wanted to bring a championship to the Northeast Ohio, so that doesn't change my stance," Garrett said Friday. "I'm just going to continue to turn those opinions around or reinforce those opinions by going out and doing what I've always done — going out and make plays, being a great teammate, great leader, and being the best person I could be on this field and off the field for Cleveland Browns."

Garrett made his first public comments since it came out last Sunday he was signing a new four-year extension that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback with a $40 million average annual value. That extension came after a month-long cold war between the four-time All-Pro and the team that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 after he made his demand to be traded to a contender known the Monday before the Super Bowl.

The journey between that Feb. 3 demand and the extension had more than its share of public vitriol, with both sides digging in and bracing for a long standoff. Privately, though, diplomacy was giving way to a resolution that ultimately put Garrett back on the "Cleveland to Canton" path Browns general manager Andrew Berry repeatedly said he expected for the six-time Pro Bowler.

"Just having constant communication with the team, AB, or just management in general" Garrett said. "Talking about the plans and the future of this team and how we can turn this around and turn Cleveland into a winner as soon as possible."

Garrett first went public with his concerns over the Browns' future in mid-December, saying he wanted to get an idea of the organization's plan to turn things around from the 3-14 disaster that was last season. He got his initial meeting with Berry and others at the top of the organization immediately after the season.

The difference between the message Garrett heard in January and the one that ultimately helped lead to the final resolution was as much about context as anything. It wasn't necessarily that the message changed as much as the message took on a more solid shape.

"I would say it became more reinforced and developed as time went on," Garrett said. "Just a little more time from the season, seeing how things developed and progressed with each team making moves and the combine and the draft coming up. A lot of dominoes just started to fall and things just started to fall in place."

This story will be updated. Check back here for details.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Myles Garrett still wants to bring NFL title to Cleveland, NE Ohio

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