"I hate the idea": Andrew Whitworth raises red flags over Browns owner's standoff with Myles Garrett
With the NFL draft on the horizon, the Cleveland Browns have decided to take up the mantle of the most dramatic franchise in the National Football League. After All-Pro rusher Myles Garrett formally issued a trade request, the Browns apparently laid down the law, stating that they have no plans to deal the 29-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year.
This month, it turns out Garrett reportedly requested a meeting with the Browns' billionaire owner, Jimmy Haslam. However, Garrett's request was shot down. Haslam instead told Garrett to take it up with general manager Andrew Berry.
That turn of events did not sit well with NFL icon Andrew Whitworth, who hopped on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday to deliver his take:
"I hate the idea that you would turn down that request because regardless of what you're going to do, and I tell this to players all the time as a leader of a locker room, 'you're a man before you're anything else. Always live your life that way and make decisions that way, stick true to who you are.' And so to reject an opportunity to sit down with a guy, I don't even understand that. That doesn't even make any sense."
Browns GM takes strong stance amid uncertainty around Myles Garrett's trade request
After Garrett issued a trade request, Berry made it clear that the franchise has no plans to trade Garrett away, even if a rival team offered two first-round picks for the four-time first-team All-Pro.
“I wouldn’t really touch on any conversations that I have with other teams, just respectfully,” Berry said (via Cleveland dot com). “I don’t think that’s appropriate just for current and future business, but it’s irrelevant to this situation because we’re not interested in trading Myles.”
The Philadelphia Eagles have been strongly linked with making a move for Garrett, who outlined his desire to land with a contender in his formal trade request.
Any team that trades for Garrett will also have to make him one of the highest-paid defenders in the league. Interestingly, Garrett shares the same agent as Jalen Hurts: Nicole Lynn.
Lynn played a pivotal part in getting the Super Bowl-winning quarterback a five-year, $255 million extension.