Myles Garrett’s goodbye message to Browns fans: ‘Cleveland made me tougher’
Hours after news broke Monday that Myles Garrett had been traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year took to social media to post a goodbye message to the city of Cleveland.
“It’s hard to put into words what that really means when so much of your life has been shaped in one place, around one team, and with one community behind you,” Garrett wrote. “From my very first play, you embraced me, and I wanted to help bring winning back to a city whose loyalty, resilience, and belief never wavered.”
— Myles Garrett (@Flash_Garrett) June 2, 2026
After nine seasons in Cleveland, the 30-year-old Garrett was dealt for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick. The deal is pending physicals.
Selected No. 1 in the 2017 NFL Draft, Garrett went on to earn All-Pro honors with the Browns seven times, including first-team All-Pro five times. He amassed 125.5 sacks, including an NFL single-season record 23 in 2025. The record helped propel him to his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Browns made the playoffs just twice during Garrett’s tenure. They went 54-79-1 in the 134 games he played. In early 2025, the edge rusher made a public trade request and said he wouldn’t return to the Browns. Cleveland signed him to an extension that March, including more than $122 million in guaranteed money, which paid him nearly $40 million per year.
Garrett responded with a record-setting season, though the Browns still struggled to a 5-12 record and a last-place finish in the AFC North. In his letter, he expressed that the totality of his tenure only strengthened him as one of the game’s greatest defenders.
“Cleveland made me tougher,” Garrett wrote. “You challenged me. You taught me about perseverance, about showing up even when things aren’t easy, and what loyalty really looks like. Through the highs, lows, setbacks, injuries, expectations, inclement weather, and difficult seasons, you all kept showing up.
“I never took that for granted.”
Garrett went on to thank Browns fans, the Haslam family, which owns the team, general manager Andrew Berry, his teammates and many others who contributed to his career in Cleveland. He wrote that the city of Cleveland and the region of Northeast Ohio will “always be a place I’m proud to call home.”
Garrett closed his letter by saying he holds no regrets, even amid the lack of team success, from his time terrorizing quarterbacks off the edge in Cleveland. Now he’ll join a loaded Rams team featuring a surplus of star power and Super Bowl aspirations.
But he remains proud of his time with the Dawg Pound.
“What I can say with complete honesty is this: I gave this city everything I had,” Garrett wrote. “I suited up and wore those colors with pride, and I don’t regret a second of being part of this storied franchise.”