Steelers Stay Laughing At The Browns With Myles Garrett Continuing To Cause Problems In Cleveland

The Pittsburgh Steelers came out on top of the AFC North division once the 2025 regular season concluded. It wasn't expected that Mike Tomlin's group would be able to get into the postseason with a home game, but it happened thanks to Tyler Loop missing a kick in Week 18. Now, all four organizations are entering a crucial time in the 2026 offseason. The rosters look different, and the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns have new coaching staffs, similarly to what has happened in the Steel City. It should be another exciting year of football for fans rooting for the respective franchises.

One of the more interesting head-coaching hires across the league — after there were plenty of vacancies — happened in Cleveland. Jim Schwartz seemed like the perfect internal candidate because of how stout his defense was; however, the decision-makers went in a different direction, causing some serious strife inside the building. At the end of the day, Todd Monken was brought in to lead the locker room.

Dating back to 2008, Cleveland has only had two winning seasons. It has to be a frustrating reality for the players in the locker room. Individuals in their primes such as Myles Garrett deserve to at least be a part of a competitive program. In 2025, the star edge rusher actually requested to be traded until the Browns offered him a massive, market-setting contract offer.

That doesn't mean he will be in it for the long haul, though. The team restructured his contract to push out his guarantees, which was downplayed quickly after the news became public. Well, Garrett found a way to create headlines again just recently. His new head coach, Monken, was asked if he has met with the best player on his roster. The answer was short and sweet.

"Myles? No," Monken said.

The decision to alter Garrett's contract implies that Cleveland at least is interested in exploring taking an offer that cannot be refused. With a new coach in the building, it would seem as if it is imperative to have someone as important as Garrett around for Organized Team Activities (OTAs). Instead, the defender opted out of showing up when the Browns started the sessions.

It is fair to note that Garrett works with a specific training regimen, leading to him often missing out on voluntary workouts such as OTAs, but the fact that he hasn't gone out of his way once to meet Monken in person since the hiring speaks volumes that trouble could be brewing.

Garrett is a generational player who is one of the most talented edge rushers of all time. However, he has not done a whole lot of winning during his time in Cleveland. At first, his trade request in 2025 seemed to be due to the fact that he wanted to play in a more competitive atmosphere. Then, the Browns decided to offer him an incredible amount of money. That's when things shifted and he signed to stay in Cleveland.

With the departures of Kevin Stefanski and Schwartz, it's very possible that Garrett could have a very sour taste in his mouth. Not heading to the team facility for at least one day to meet your new head coach isn't a great look. The Steelers, Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals are probably all enjoying watching the drama play out, especially if it leads to the dominant pass rusher getting traded.

Steelers Would Love To See Garrett Shipped Out Of AFC North

Pittsburgh will be trotting out a near-43-year-old quarterback in 2026. If the contract changes to Garrett's deal are indeed because the team wants to explore trading him prior to the regular season, no one in the Steel City is going to complain about him not being on the schedule twice a year. It is going to remain as something to watch as NFL franchises really ramp up in preparation for September.

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