Todd Monken Makes Head-Turning Myles Garrett Admission

Todd Monken was officially introduced as the Cleveland Browns‘ head coach on Feb. 3.

It’s the end of May, and some Browns players are at voluntary OTAs. Garrett, for a second straight year, isn’t among them. Monken was asked whether he’s met face-to-face with Garrett yet, and he responded with a terse “no.”

Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot provided more context, but it’s still a bit peculiar for the face of the franchise not to have met with his new head coach.

“Monken acknowledged that his contact with Garrett to this point has been via text messages and it ‘hasn't been a lot. This is voluntary. We're making a big deal out of this. We really are. It's voluntary. We have other guys besides Myles that aren't here. I wish they were here. They'll be ready. We expect them to be ready and we'll be fired up when they're here,'” Cabot wrote.

Around the time of Monken’s hiring, Garrett posted a meme on his Instagram Story suggesting he wanted Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to take over for Kevin Stefanski as the Browns’ head coach. Schwartz resigned as the Browns’ defensive coordinator shortly after the team hired Monken.

In March, the Browns restructured Garrett’s contract to alter language that, on its face, makes it easier for the Browns to trade him in the future, as explained here. Garrett publicly requested a trade in February 2025, but he instead agreed to a record-breaking contract extension to stay in Cleveland less than a month later.

Last season, Garrett set the NFL‘s all-time single-season sack record by collecting his 23rd sack against the Cincinnati Bengals in the season finale. The 2017 No. 1 overall pick also won the AP Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in three years.

The issue is that the Browns only won five games last season, and Garrett has won one playoff game - a wild-card win in the 2020 season - in his future Hall of Fame career. Unless Monken is a miracle worker, history may repeat itself in the form of another Garrett trade request.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 1:38 PM.