The Cleveland Browns can’t claim in any real way to be a winning franchise in 2025, or just generally across the vast majority of the league’s Super Bowl era — but Myles Garrett was clear with the fanbase recently that winning is still the point.
Long have competing theories existed about the value of late-season wins that can boost morale, foster hope for the future and reveal hidden talent, but may also cost a rebuilding franchise like the Browns meaningful draft position.
Cleveland captured one such victory on Sunday, December 28. The Browns bested the rival Pittsburgh Steelers in Cleveland, moving to 4-13 on the season and putting the Steelers’ playoff hopes in peril. They will now host the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh next week, with the winner capturing the division and the AFC’s No. 4 seed and the loser missing out on the postseason.
The win provided glimmers of promise for next year and beyond, as the team’s stellar rookie class played well pretty much across the board. Meanwhile the defense, which remains among the best in the league, held legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers and company to six points on the day.
Beyond that, Cleveland QB Shedeur Sanders earned the second win of his rookie campaign, as the development of the popular Browns signal-caller continued.
So it was with real pride, and perhaps a hint of indignity, that Garrett spoke directly to fans and media members who criticized the team’s victory over its longtime rival because the win dropped Cleveland to the No. 6 overall pick with one game to play.
“I’ll be damned if I’m just going to go out there and lay down to another team just because we want some more draft picks,” Garrett said Sunday during his postgame interview. “That’s not me.”
Myles Garrett Went From Demanding Trade Out of Cleveland to Setting Browns’ Culture
GettyDefensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
Garrett had more to say about the notion of playing to lose.
“No one signed up to lose,” Garrett said. “So I don’t care what the situation is with the record. Not a single one of us want to line up and lay down to a team or a man that’s in front of us.”
While it may seem like a long time ago, it was just this past offseason that Garrett was demanding a trade out of Cleveland and stating his desire to compete for a Super Bowl as the primary reason.
He caught some heat when he walked that back after the team offered him a four-year contract extension worth $160 million, but Garrett has been consistent about wanting to set a culture in Cleveland all season long and has taken it upon himself to be a leader in that initiative.
Myles Garrett Guarantees Sack Record in Week 18 Against Bengals
GettyPass-rusher Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
From an on-field performance perspective, Garrett has done well beyond his share this season with regards to setting a culture and contributing to winning.
He enters Week 18 against the Bengals leading the league with 32 tackles for loss. Garrett also sits atop the NFL with 22 sacks, just a half-sack shy of tying the single-season record and one sack away from breaking it.
Garrett, who appears well on his way to winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second time in three seasons, essentially guaranteed that he will claim the record in Cincinnati on Sunday, January 4.
“However you want to draw it up, it’ll get done,” he said.
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