Myles Garrett

Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett communicated a trade request to the team "weeks" before he went public with the demand.

Garrett announced Feb. 3 in a statement he wants out, citing his desire to win a Super Bowl title.

According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, however, "his request had been in for a couple of weeks."

"My sense would be that the request becoming public came as a result of some level of frustration from the former Defensive Player of the Year," Breer said. "The Browns told him they wouldn't deal him. They've messaged that to other teams. And Cleveland planting its feet in the ground on that would motivate Garrett to go public."

At least one NFL personnel evaluator has serious doubts the Browns actually trade Garrett.

"There is no way they are going to trade that guy," the anonymous exec said to The Athletic's Mike Sando. "They would be crazy to. I think they are just going to sit on it and simmer it down. That said, when (offensive guard Joel) Bitonio came out and said he had doubts as well, it affirmed for me that this is all about Deshaun Watson. I think they want him out of the building and they want a clear path to no more drama."

An immediate reaction from many was that the six-time Pro Bowler's days in Cleveland are numbered.

Thanks in part to the Deshaun Watson trade being such a spectacular failure, whatever title window the Browns once had seems to have closed. Beyond the extent to which Garrett's trade request will linger around the organization, dealing him might be the most straightforward way for the front office to accelerate a rebuild.

Maybe the anonymous executive's read on the situation will instead prove to be correct.

Soon, free agency and the NFL draft will give fans something else to talk about, thus taking the focus away from Garrett and his future in Cleveland. General manager Andrew Berry might in turn feel a little less pressure to act.

Still, it's tough to see what the front office can do to address Garrett's concerns when the Browns are projected to be more than $30.1 million over the salary cap. Cutting ties with Watson is out of the question, too, thanks to the financial consequences.

Cleveland is going to have a new starting quarterback for 2025; that much is clear. The team may struggle to identify one who's enough of an upgrade to lift the team into contention.

Myles Garrett has already spoken in depth about his desire to be traded from the Cleveland Browns this offseason, citing a desire to compete for championships, and has previously mentioned consulting LeBron James on the decision.

On Sunday, he spoke again on those topics during an appearance on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown:

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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The Cincinnati Bengals will have to make a decision on the future of Trey Hendrickson ahead of the 2025 season.

The veteran pass-rusher—who led football with 17.5 sacks this past season—will be making just $16 million in 2025 and will be a free agent following the season. He already requested a trade ahead of the 2024 campaign, though the Bengals obviously didn't grant it.

As Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport noted on Sunday, "Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said recently they'll try to extend Hendrickson but noted both sides must agree. Cincinnati rarely makes trades, with Tobin often noting that he doesn't like to trade away great players. But if Hendrickson became available, there would be a strong market."

It could be quite the offseason in the edge-rusher market, with Myles Garrett already requesting a trade and Micah Parsons an interesting trade candidate if the Dallas Cowboys decide they don't want to reset the market with an extension to keep him for the long term.

Losing Hendrickson would be a major blow, no doubt—he has 57 sacks since joining the Bengals in 2021—but it might be necessary from a salary cap perspective if the Bengals want to keep both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at wideout. It seems more likely, however, that both Chase and Hendrickson will get extensions and Higgins will walk in free agency.

Myles Garrett wants to be traded, and the Cleveland Browns don't want to trade him.

And, reportedly, both sides have remained firm in their position in recent days.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Cleveland's "stance hasn't changed" regarding Garrett's trade request.

It was clear Garrett's future would be a major talking point during the upcoming offseason when the pass-rusher requested a trade Monday with a statement that explained he wants to win a Super Bowl and believes it will be easier to make that happen away from Cleveland:

However, a Browns spokesperson told Tom Withers of the Associated Press, "we aren't entertaining trade offers for Myles."

What's more, general manager Andrew Berry told reporters last month, "We always have a really good and direct two-way communication with our players. We feel really good about Myles obviously as a big piece of our future. We're looking forward to him being on the field. Like I said in my (early January) press conference, we envision him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over."

That may be Cleveland's position, but things can change.

Dianna Russini of The Athletic noted teams from both conferences have called the Browns and been told, "We are not moving him… but stay tuned."

She also reported she believes potential suitors want to complete a trade prior to the start of the new league year on March 12, which is notable because Garrett has been in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl because he "knows the league's biggest decision-makers are all in town."

Russini continued, adding, "publicly, the Browns are standing firm, but behind the scenes? This isn't a smoke screen. Sources close to Garrett say he's not bluffing."

While no team wants to lose a player of Garrett's caliber, this could at least be an opportunity for a Browns team coming off a 3-14 season to accelerate a rebuild with significant draft capital or younger players.

Pelissero and Rapoport suggested the six-time Pro Bowler "would be expected to command massive trade compensation" seeing how he is still just 29 years old with two years remaining on his current deal.

He wouldn't just be a short-term rental for a potential contender that needs to bolster its pass-rush, which would give the AFC North team the chance to demand plenty in return.

First, the Browns front office will have to change the way it feels about the situation.

The price to acquire Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett will be steep and it looks like the amount of suitable destinations will be limited.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that people around the NFL believe trading for Garrett should require "at least two quality picks" and that the list of suitors will be limited due to his "desire to join a contender."

People I've talked to about Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett's trade market agree that his immense talent should garner at least two quality picks in return -- either two first-rounders, or a first-rounder and a high-level Day 2 pick package. They also agree the list of potential suitors would be condensed due to his desire to join a contender after requesting a trade. I've spoken to several teams that openly admit they will probably reach out to Cleveland, with the expectation that the Browns will say no to any offer. Cleveland has no plans to budge on its stance that Garrett won't be moved. Obviously, that can change; Cleveland has a savvy front office that's measured but aggressive, so perhaps the trade value will eventually be too hard to pass up. But this could drag on for a while. Sources maintain that Garrett is not motivated by money, but rather solely by a desire to win. After all, Garrett would have no problem getting a new deal from Cleveland or elsewhere. He has 14-plus sacks in each of the past four seasons and is a free agent in 2027.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Myles Garrett has spent his entire NFL career playing in a cold-weather city for the Cleveland Browns, and he isn't afraid to keep suiting up in the cold at his next destination if he is traded.

"I don't mind snow," he told TMZ Sports. "I just want to win. That's the main thing."

Garrett's desire to find a winning team was clear when he requested a trade from the Browns on Monday with a statement that said, in part, "While I've loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won't allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl."

Despite the clear message, a spokesperson for the Browns told Tom Withers of the Associated Press, "we aren't entertaining trade offers for Myles."

That could always change as the offseason progresses, but Cleveland surely doesn't want to lose any leverage in trade discussions at this point since the star pass-rusher is signed through the 2026 campaign.

And Garrett saying he is fine going to a cold-weather city actually improves the team's overall leverage by not limiting the number of potential suitors it can talk to if and when it does start negotiating possible trades.

His ultimate destination will be a major storyline during the upcoming offseason, as Garrett is one of the best defensive players in the league and coming off another season that saw him selected to the All-Pro First Team and Pro Bowl.

It was his sixth Pro Bowl selection and fourth First-Team All-Pro nod, adding to a resume that also includes the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year and seven seasons of double-digit sack totals.

If he has to chase an eighth season of double-digit sacks in the snow, he is more than fine with it.

With Myles Garrett's future with the Cleveland Browns fully up in the air, it seems like the star pass-rusher wouldn't mind playing for one of the two teams set to play in Sunday's Super Bowl.

"It would be a hell of a destination," he said of the Philadelphia Eagles during a discussion with Zach Gelb:

The conversation about Garrett switching teams came after he requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns in a statement released Monday:

While the trade request made it clear Garrett wanted out of Cleveland, the team didn't seem to be in a hurry to honor it.

A Browns spokesperson said, "we aren't entertaining trade offers for Myles" on Monday, per Tom Withers of the Associated Press.

Last month, general manager Andrew Berry told reporters the team wouldn't even trade the star pass-rusher for two first-round picks.

"We always have a really good and direct two-way communication with our players," Berry said. "We feel really good about Myles obviously as a big piece of our future. We're looking forward to him being on the field. Like I said in my (early January) press conference, we envision him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over."

The "Cleveland to Canton" line was notable, as Garrett's statement said, in part, "the goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl."

Since Cleveland selected him with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft, it has won one playoff game in eight years. It is also coming off a 3-14 season and doesn't look anywhere close to competing for that Lombardi Trophy.

Going to the Eagles would put Garrett much closer to his goal.

On Sunday, Philadelphia will take the field for its third Super Bowl since Garrett entered the league. It won the Lombardi Trophy during his rookie season and will have the chance to add another to its collection if it can figure out Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

The Eagles are arguably the most talented team in the league, but they were a solid-but-unspectacular 15th in the NFL in sacks this season. Adding someone like Garrett, who posted 14 sacks this season and has reached double-digit totals in each of the last seven years, would make them even more dangerous.

It is certainly a troubling thought for the rest of the NFC, although the Browns don't seem eager to move him.