Report: Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam denies Myles Garrett request for meeting amid trade request

Myles Garrett is trying to take his trade request all the way to the top of the Cleveland Browns organization. However, team owner Jimmy Haslam isn’t receptive to the star defender’s wish to leave the team.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Friday that Haslam denied Garrett’s request for a meeting following the former first overall pick’s plea. It’s evident both sides are sticking to their guns, and there may not be a resolution reached in a quick fashion.

“Browns star Myles Garrett recently requested a meeting with owner Jimmy Haslam, who declined to speak amidst Garrett’s trade request, per sources,” Pelissero posted on X. “Both sides are dug in: Cleveland refuses to even discuss a trade, while Garrett is preparing to miss games if he’s not traded.”

It’s easy to see how the situation one of the AFC North’s franchises is dealing with could get out of hand in quick fashion. Garrett hasn’t changed his stance; he wants out of Cleveland. The Browns haven’t changed their stance; they have no interest in trading the 29-year-old pass rusher.

A resolution doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. Earlier this week, ESPN‘s Adam Schefter, gave an update on Garrett’s status, where he predicted the process to get even more tense than it already is moving forward.

“This is a text I got last week, ‘Myles is not open to discussing a contract extension with Cleveland. This has nothing to do with money. He wants to go win, and he wants to go to a place he feels he has a shot at doing that immediately.’ Now, the Browns feel just as strongly that they’re not trading Myles Garrett. So, somebody here is going to have to give or we’re gonna have to see how this unfolds,” Schefter said on Tuesday’s Pat McAfee Show. “I’ve always felt like this was a question of how dug in Myles Garrett is going to be because if he’s dug in, and he refuses to report back there and he makes it messy, then eventually, he’s going to get what he wants. 

“But the process of getting there is going to be very tense, very complicated and very ugly. I don’t know how far he’s willing to push it. It is one thing to say he’s not willing to talk about an extension with Cleveland, he wants to go to a place that wins. It’s March 4 and you can say that. [It’s another thing] if he’s still saying the same thing on Aug. 4 — if and when nothing’s happened — and I don’t have the answer to that. All we know is the Browns have been unwilling to budge, the situation with Myles is he’s not interested in signing an extension.”

All told, Garrett already has a Hall of Fame resume, with 102.5 sacks in eight seasons. A four-time All-Pro, Garrett won AP Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. He tallied 14.0 sacks this past season, his seventh consecutive campaign with double-digit sacks. Cleveland wants to keep him, but time will tell how the situation unfolds for the Browns.

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.