Cleveland Browns star pass-rusher Myles Garrett suggested on multiple occasions before Christmas that he could ask to be traded during the offseason when he made it known he wants no part of a roster "rebuild."
It seems cornerback Denzel Ward, a three-time Pro Bowl selection signed through the 2027 campaign, could potentially follow Garrett out the door next year.
"I'm ready to win as well," Ward said on Thursday, as Daryl Ruiter of Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan shared. "I know Myles is too. We’re competitors and winners and we’re just looking to try to find a way to get to the top and obviously not have a losing season like we have now, so we're just really just looking for how to get there."
Understandably, Garrett and Ward could fear that the 3-12 Browns may consider blowing things up after they traded wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills during the season. Quarterback Deshaun Watson reportedly is "not in the team’s plans" as he recovers from the ruptured Achilles he suffered in October but is expected to stay with Cleveland through at least 2025 because the club cannot financially escape what's left of the fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract it gave him in March 2022.
One cannot say with certainty if a so-called bridge option such as current Atlanta Falcons signal-caller Kirk Cousins would welcome sharing a quarterback room with Watson for even one year.
In short, the Browns probably aren't a single offseason away from competing for much of note.
Meanwhile, Browns guard Joel Bitonio hinted on Thursday he could retire this winter. The 2014 second-round draft pick, who is a two-time First-Team All-Pro selection, told reporters he cannot see himself "putting on a different helmet" and playing home games outside of Cleveland, but he also sounded like a veteran who doesn't want to endure yet another disappointing season.
"It's very hard to make a decision when you're in the middle of it," Bitonio explained. "You're going through that daily grind, you know what I mean? So I'm going to finish the year as strong as I can and see how we feel in a couple of weeks and go from there."
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam will reportedly retain general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski. Garrett said last week that he wants to see how the organization's regime plans to turn things around before he makes any final decision about his offseason plans.
Ward added on Thursday that "everybody just wants to win," but it remains to be seen if the team of Berry and Stefanski can convince locker-room leaders that the Browns aren't as much of a mess as their record indicates going into this Sunday's home game versus the 7-8 Miami Dolphins.
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Cleveland as a 6.5-point underdog for that matchup.
