Browns DE Myles Garrett inks record extension; highest-paid non-QB in NFL history
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WDTN) – The Cleveland Browns franchise edge rusher is here to stay.
The Browns and Myles Garrett reached an agreement Sunday on a record contract extension that averages $40 million per year and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money.
The blockbuster four-year extension makes the star defensive end the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, according to multiple reports and ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The six-year contract also includes a no-trade clause and will keep the 29-year-old in Cleveland through the 2030 season.
One month after requesting a trade so he could have a chance to win a Super Bowl, the Browns were able to lock down the former 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick.
In eight seasons with Cleveland, the six-time Pro Bowler and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year has 102.5 career sacks which are the second-most in the NFL since 2017 behind TJ Watt (108).
The four-time All-Pro is also the first player to record 14 or more sacks in four consecutive seasons. Garrett led the league in tackles for loss (24) while co-leading in QB pressures (83).
His 14.0 sacks in 2024 were the second-most behind only AFC North rival, Cincinnati Bengals' star DE Trey Hendrickson's 17.5.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jacksonville Jaguars reunite with DE Dawuane Smoot, sign WR Trenton Irwin
The Jacksonville Jaguars will welcome a familiar face to the Miller Electric Center, signing defensive end Dawuane Smoot after he spent one year away with the Buffalo Bills. The team also signed former Bengals receiver Trenton Irwin, while they waived Jacksonville-native, WR David White Jr. Advertisement Smoot, 30, was originally drafted by the franchise in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He spent the first seven years of his career with the franchise before leaving via free agency in 2024. Smoot had signed multiple short-term deals with the Jaguars before joining Buffalo for a season. KEEP UP: Jacksonville Jaguars' Liam Coen: Travis Etienne trade rumors 'absolutely inaccurate' In seven years with Jacksonville, Smoot totaled 23.5 sacks, 27 tackles for loss and 64 quarterback hits. From 2019-2022, Smoot was one of the team's most consistent pass rushers, tallying at least five sacks a season, including a career-high six sacks in 2021. Smoot ruptured his Achilles late during the team's 2022 playoff run, ending his year in Week 16 against the New York Jets. He returned the previous year, but tallied just one sack in 12 games after returning from the Physically Unable to Perform list. Advertisement Smoot tallied 1.5 sacks with the Bills last season through 11 games played. Irwin, originally signed by the Bengals following the 2019 NFL Draft out of Stanford, has spent the last six seasons with the franchise. Irwin has totaled 46 catches for 601 yards and five touchdowns through 41 games played. His best season came in 2023 when he caught 25 passes for 316 yards and a score. He totaled a career-high four touchdowns in 2022. Iriwn also has some return-specialist experience, totalling 21 punt returns for 185 yards and a kick return for eight yards in his career. Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius. Advertisement If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, please consider becoming a subscriber to support local journalism in Northeast Florida. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars sign DE Dawuane Smoot, WR Trenton Irwin


Washington Post
9 minutes ago
- Washington Post
McCarthy, Vikings value Jefferson's presence and leadership in offseason practices
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings urged Justin Jefferson to fully participate in their offseason program, a commitment some established NFL stars aren't willing to make each spring. The sixth-year wide receiver was already a step ahead of the coaching staff. This is a critical offseason for Jefferson and the Vikings, breaking in a new quarterback in J.J. McCarthy , so he was planning to make his attendance a priority. 'It's definitely important to gain a little bit of a sight of what the new year is coming to look like, to build that connection with my teammates and especially with my quarterback,' Jefferson said after practice on Monday. 'It's definitely great to be out here early to kind of get into the feel.' These late spring practices, known in league parlance as organized team activities, are when the basic installation of the playbook begins, even though only the three-day minicamp next week is contractually mandated. It's also a prime opportunity to build that rhythm and trust between the quarterback and his receivers. 'He's a tremendous talent, tremendous leader, but his leadership really shows up when he's here,' said McCarthy, who accompanied Jefferson to a Timberwolves playoff game last month when they sat together in courtside seats. 'Just being able to get that chemistry building on and off the field has been invaluable.' Jefferson, whose 7,432 receiving yards are the most in league history through a player's first five seasons, said he doesn't concern himself with the style or tendencies of who's throwing. 'As long as the ball gets close to my face, I'm going to try to catch it,' he said. 'It doesn't matter how fast the ball is going, the spin of it or if it's coming from a lefty or a righty. My job is to catch the ball.' What's most important to Jefferson is the quarterback learning to adjust to his route-running preferences, with an exceptional stride length and side-to-side agility that helps set him apart. 'It's that timing, those reps,' McCarthy said. 'All of that has to be built up over time.' Which is why Jefferson being around all the time is so valuable. 'He's an energy igniter of the whole building, and I think he's come back with a purpose and a mindset,' coach Kevin O'Connell said. 'You hear his voice, you hear his interaction with teammates, and they just carry such a long way.' Not just for the quarterback. 'The guys in that locker room know, 'If this guy, one of the best in the world at what he does, is pushing himself in May and June, I sure as heck better be doing the same thing,'' O'Connell said. McCarthy, whose rookie season was spent entirely in the training room recovering from knee surgery, at least had some meaningful time in strategy meetings that helped him start to build the knowledge base in the offense even if he wasn't taking snaps on the field. 'I've been really surprised by some of the things that he does know. You're like, 'Man, we covered that in a 10-minute burst in Week 11 last year. How do you remember that?'' O'Connell said. 'And then there's some other things where you're like, 'Oh, I assumed he knew that.' So it's our job — baseline teaching and stacking days and layered learning so that we're constantly making him feel like he's growing but never comfortable.' Jefferson can see that too. 'He definitely has an arm, that's for sure. He can definitely zip it whenever he needs to,' he said, before recounting his advice to McCarthy at this stage of the offseason. 'Just let everything happen. Don't try to make the best play every single play.' ___ AP NFL:


Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall, one of the famed ‘Purple People Eaters,' dies at age 87
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Though sacks weren't officially tracked by the NFL until 1982, Pro Football Reference recently completed a retroactive compilation of the primary pass-rushing statistic and credited Marshall with 130½ sacks, which is tied for 22nd all time. Two other Purple People Eaters rank ahead of him: Alan Page (148½) is eighth, and Carl Eller (133½) is tied for 18th. Advertisement Marshall remains the NFL career record-holder, now tied with Jason Taylor, for opponent fumbles recovered with 29. One of those infamously came on Oct. 25, 1964, at San Francisco when, after the Vikings forced 49ers running back Billy Kilmer to cough up the ball, Marshall scooped it up and scampered 66 yards into the end zone — the wrong way. Advertisement After he tossed the ball in the air and turned toward the touchdown celebration with his teammates he was expecting, Marshall stopped in his tracks and put his hands on his hips in disbelief upon realizing he'd cost his team a safety. The Vikings went on to win 27-22. 'It took a lot of guts for me to go back on that field, because I took football very seriously and I had made the biggest mistake that you could probably make,' Marshall once said in an interview with NFL Films for a segment on the NFL's worst plays. Marshall took the gaffe in stride, a graciousness made easier by his stature on the team and within the league. Long a favorite of hard-nosed head coach Bud Grant, Marshall played through the 1979 season, his final game coming two weeks before his 42nd birthday. 'Maybe we've taken it for granted that Jim Marshall plays hurt,' Grant said after Marshall announced his retirement. 'But durability is the most important ability you have. You can't achieve greatness without durability, and that is personified in Jim Marshall. He has been hurt. But he doesn't break. He bends. He heals. He has a high pain threshold. Jim not only plays hurt, he plays as well when he's hurt as when he isn't. That's what's important.' Advertisement After Favre broke Marshall's record of 270 consecutive regular-season games started in 2009, the Vikings invited Marshall to their practice facility to speak to the players. He was asked then in an interview session with reporters what he thought about a quarterback overtaking his prized mark. 'He's the guy we were trying to hurt,' Marshall said with a laugh. 'Every defensive lineman that he plays against is trying to hurt him. That's a tough way to earn a living.' Marshall's determination and longevity took its physical toll, like many of his peers from an era when player safety and injury prevention were minimal. In an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2017, Marshall recounted his long list of post-career surgeries on his knees, ankles, hips, shoulders, back, neck, heart, eyes, and ears. 'I didn't quite accomplish all the things I wanted to, but I sure tried,' Marshall said. 'I sacrificed. I gave it my best shot.'