Despite his past mistakes, the Browns should extend Myles Garrett’s deal

Ian Rappaport is reporting that the Cleveland Browns want to sign Myles Garrett to a long-term deal and despite his past issues, the team should make it happen.

Myles Garrett on the field has largely been what he was billed as. While as a run stopper he’s only mildly effective, as a pass-rusher he’s as elite as they come. With the NFL’s overindulgence in the sack stat, guys who put up a great figure are going to be highly sought after. Even if they are a liability elsewhere. That’s not a shot at Garrett, just at the over-reliance on the stat as a defining marker for one’s talent. Garrett, however, has largely lived up to his top billing. For a defensive end, he’s as elite as you can be for someone who’s only played 16 games once. This is probably why the Browns want to sign him long-term, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport.

That’s not to say that he hasn’t had his fair share of issues. There’s the odd incident where he was punched in the face while in his car, him telling Dallas to trade with Cleveland to draft him, the whole helmet thing, his persistent insistence that Mason Rudolph used a racial slur towards him, despite evidence to the contrary. As well as his growing reputation of being a “dirty” player. One he categorically denies.

Despite all that, Garrett offers enough on the field and off to warrant a big contract extension. Unlike someone like Kareem Hunt or Josh Gordon who’s issues seem to be around substances and actions that spin out from said ingestion, a lot of Garrett’s issues seem to hinge on immaturity or poor decision making. Something many people are guilty of.

The hope is that as Garrett matures as a player and becomes less reliant on physical attributes and more on his technique, so to will he grow as a man and mature past some of these childish impulses. There are plenty of questionable, curious, or downright inexcusable moments so far in his career but he’s also never been arrested (though the city of Pittsburgh isn’t happy about that) and has a reputation for being a renaissance man. While his love of poetry is unique, he needs to be more than just a football player with a poet’s soul. He needs to step up, clean off the muck that’s been attached to him through his own actions, and start becoming a leader.

Then he’ll truly be worth every penny the team wants to pay him. That and staying on the field for all 16 games.