Browns Executive Takes Bold Stance On Future of Myles Garrett

With plenty of speculation about the future of Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry tried to calm fans with his response regarding the team's star player

Browns general manager Andrew Berry watches minicamp, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Berea. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett raised some eyebrows when he kept the door open for the first time on playing somewhere else if the franchise isn't prioritizing winning this offseason.

On Monday, VP of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry tried to calm the masses when talking about the reigning Defensive Player of the Year's future with the franchise.

"My anticipation, expectation, is that he'll have a direct ticket from Cleveland to Canton at the end of his [years], and expect him to be here and retire a Brown, quite frankly," Berry asserted.

Big news from the Browns this morning, as Andrew Berry revealed that Deshaun Watson has suffered a setback in his recovery from a ruptured Achilles. https://t.co/LoK8hoEvBi

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Of course, he means that he envisions Garrett playing his entire career with the Browns before ending up enshrined in the Football Hall Of Fame Down I-77 in Canton. That doesn't mean Garrett's comments from several weeks back won't influence the team's decision making this offseason though in terms of trying to rebuild a 3-14 team into a playoff contender.

For Berry though, that was always going to be the focus, and sometimes those so called "rebuilds" don't take as long as people think.

"Our goal is always going to be to win," he said. "Our goal is always going to be to improve the team. I think one of the beauties of the NFL, I guess maybe a parallel, you think about the team that was holding the two pick last year, but we see [the] Washington [Commanders] play in the playoffs this year. So you can never really put necessarily a timeframe on it."

The Commanders will serve as the new poster child for teams near the top of the draft board – like Cleveland who holds the No. 2 overall pick – as team that made a quick turnaround. A lot of that centers around their selection of rookie QB Jayden Daniels, who will likely take home the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Whether or not Berry and the Browns plan on following a similar path and drafting a QB come April remains to be seen, but his overall premise remains.

"With player movement and how things change in the NFL, it's hard to have a crystal ball, but we really will be focused on making the decisions that we think can not just allow us to have a 10 or 11 win blip, but really allow us to stay there," he explained. "And so that will be balancing both the short term and long term.”