Maxx Crosby upped the ante for the EDGE defender market early in the week with a deal worth an average of $35.5 million per season. Myles Garrett, who has been seeking a trade from the Cleveland Browns all offseason, now raises the bar even further. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Garrett will be staying in Cleveland on a six-year deal for an average of $40 million per season. That includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money.
Here are the full terms, via Albert Breer on X.
That makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league and further ups the ante for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their likely extension with T.J. Watt later this offseason. J.J. Watt warned that the price would only be going up and urged the Steelers to act quickly. It turns out he was right, and the Steelers now find themselves in a difficult position.
Garrett has been with the Browns since 2017 as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft that year. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and has consistently been one of the top EDGE players in the NFL.
In eight seasons, Garrett has amassed 352 total tackles, 116 tackles for loss, 200 QB hits, 102.5 sacks, 20 forced fumbles, and 17 passes defensed. He has been a Pro Bowler in six of those eight seasons and a first-team All-Pro in four of them.
The Browns maintained throughout the process that they were not interested in trading Garrett despite the trade request, and they backed that up with a massive deal that will likely keep him in Cleveland for the majority (if not all) of his career. Curiously, Garrett requested a meeting with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam earlier this week and they didn’t have the meeting because Haslam trusted his GM and coach to figure out a deal. As it turns out, Haslam must have already greenlit the deal to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, they will have to continue going against Garrett for the foreseeable future, though Bengals star EDGE defender Trey Hendrickson still appears to be on his way out of the division with an active trade request.
