Last week, the Cleveland Browns made a difficult decision to trade the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett, to the Los Angeles Rams. It was an unexpected decision but the right decision considering Cleveland’s and Garrett’s timelines do not co-exist with one another. Garrett requested a trade last season but chose to re-sign to a huge contract extension, and he followed up that extension with a career year, breaking the single-season sack record and winning another Defensive Player of the Year.
However, the team failed to make the playoffs and found themselves picking at the top of the draft order once again. Garrett never requested a trade this offseason, but it was clear he was frustrated the team wasn’t contending for a Super Bowl once again. This situation brings similarities to a specific generational talent who was in Cleveland, who was still in the league while Garrett was a rookie.
Hall of Famer Joe Thomas is not only considered one of the best offensive linemen in the past few decades. With multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl appearances, Thomas was considered one of the best Browns offensive linemen of all time. However, Thomas spent most of his career experiencing more lows than highs in Cleveland. It’s not Thomas’s fault that the Browns never had consistent success when he was there. Despite the constant losing, Thomas chose to stay in Cleveland, never requesting a trade in his career.
Garrett, on the other hand, requested a trade, but it wasn’t granted last season. Garrett’s reasoning for wanting a trade was valid, and maybe he wanted to avoid making the mistake that Thomas made, in which Thomas valued loyalty over success.
Loyalty is fragile in professional sports. We’ve seen teams trade franchise cornerstones for valid reasons, despite the cornerstones wanting to lift their team for the better. Success is different for everyone and every situation. Individual success differs from team success. Great players will be remembered more if you combine their success with the team’s success. It is never the same if the player is great, but the team is not experiencing success as well.
For the longest time, Garrett and Thomas seemed destined to follow the same path.
Garrett is a generational talent, like Thomas, he will get a gold jacket when his career is over. However, Garrett chose success over loyalty when he requested a trade, and now gets a chance to chase it with the Rams. Garrett loved being in Cleveland, and the city embraced him, but he knew that, as great as he is, he wouldn’t get the wins or recognition if he stayed.
Make no mistake, Garrett is considered one of the best defensive players in the league. However, he’s never reached a conference title game, never been a part of a team that won its division and has yet to appear in a Super Bowl. Could Garrett achieve those things while he’s in Los Angeles with the Rams? Yes. At the end of the day, Garrett’s path has now diverged from Thomas’s; the reputational outcome will be interesting to see in the future.
How does Garrett’s trade request and eventual departure change your opinion of him as a Browns fan? How do you think Garrett’s overall reputation will change if the Rams are Super Bowl contenders over the next few years?
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