Ben Roethlisberger grew up about 100 miles west of Cleveland and was famously passed up by them in the 2004 NFL Draft in favor of TE Kellen Winslow II. It’s no surprise that he went on to dominate the Browns throughout his career. Fueled by the chip on his shoulder of being passed on by his hometown team, he still takes every shot he can at them to this day.
The latest chapter in the pit of misery includes the Browns’ best player, Myles Garrett, going public with a trade request. Roethlisberger did not waste the opportunity to take some shots at the Browns on his Footbahlin podcast this week.
“I don’t necessarily blame Myles,” Roethlisberger said. “I think he sees, as coach Tomlin would say, the sand is passing through the hourglass. There’s no hope for that team winning a Super Bowl in the next five to seven years.”
The Browns have dug themselves another seemingly insurmountable hole with the 2022 trade for QB Deshaun Watson. Because of suspensions and injuries, he has only started 19 games in three seasons with a 9-10 record. They signed him to a five-year, $230 million contract that is fully guaranteed. It was an absurd contract at the time, but now it is easily one of the worst contracts ever given in the history of professional sports.
Not only did they give him a substantial amount of money which bogs down their salary cap, but they gave up three first-round picks, a third-round pick, and two fourth-round picks. The 2025 NFL Draft will be their first time free of the ramifications of that trade. That has set the franchise back by a decade, so it’s no wonder that Garrett wants out.
Coming off of his first Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023, Garrett has an outside chance of defending that title at the NFL Honors event later this week. He has made his money, but now it’s time to cement his legacy with some postseason success. He specifically cited a “desire to win” as his reason for wanting to move on from Cleveland.
T.J. Watt is similarly lacking in playoff success with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he stated that he wants to be part of the solution in Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger doesn’t believe there is any chance of a turnaround in Cleveland during the remaining years of Garrett’s NFL career. Based on Garrett’s words with his trade request, he seems to agree.
