The Cleveland Browns sent shockwaves through the league when they traded Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. Unsurprisingly, that led to fire sale rumors, but the team has actually taken the opposite approach.
If anything, the evidence seems to point toward Garrett being ready to move on. But the Browns weren't going to let his departure ruin their plans and vision.
The Browns have made it clear that they don't view 2026 as a gap year. That happened again in training camp, with team owner Jimmy Haslam and managing partner J.W. Johnson reaffirming that the Browns are looking to compete and win as many games as possible.
“We want to be a contending playoff team in 2027," Haslam said. "That doesn’t mean we can’t make it in ‘26 but the (new) stadium doesn’t play into that.”
The Browns refuse to wave the white flag on the 2026 season
Teams say they're not tanking all the time, but the Browns are actually taking steps to prove otherwise. Tanking teams don't extend veterans. Since trading Garrett, Cleveland has given extensions to both Denzel Ward and Grant Delpit.
Tanking teams don't look for high-end veterans in free agency, yet the Browns recently hosted Jadeveon Clowney for a visit. Tanking teams don't hold quarterback competitions. They simply roll with the young guy to see what he can do. That's not the case in Cleveland.
Granted, losing Garrett is a big blow, even with a blue-chip replacement like Jared Verse now taking his spot. Still, it's not like having Garrett helped the team win many games in recent years, so why should they just roll over and play dead now that he's not there?
The Browns still have the defensive firepower to have one of the strongest units in the game. They also have an improved and promising group of skill players on offense.
Of course, there will be some growing pains, and expecting this team to win double-digit games overnight might be wishful thinking. Still, there's a difference between punting the season and having a young squad.
This group must be battle-tested. They need as much experience as they can get, and with two first-round picks in 2027, it's not like they necessarily have to lose to get that missing piece under center. Losing habits snowball, and this is the right time to lay the foundation of a new era of Browns football, one that's not stained by the mistakes of the past.
Myles Garrett is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players in franchise history, but he wasn't the Cleveland Browns. He may be gone, but this team is just as eager to win as it was with him on the field.
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