When star players leave a franchise, former teammates often take to social media with tributes and farewell messages. That didn’t happen to the degree many expected after Myles Garrett’s blockbuster move to Los Angeles. According to longtime Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot, there may be a reason why.

“When you talk about the fact that [fans] haven’t seen guys write or say a lot about Myles, I think that there are some reasons for that,” Cabot stated. “If you look back to the previous year when he went all around the Super Bowl asking to get the heck out of Dodge, I don’t think that necessarily said ‘team building’ to a lot of guys.” 

“I’ve also been told that even though Myles was very well-respected and, in some cases, revered, he wasn’t necessarily loved by his teammates,” she continued. “And while he evolved as a leader over the years, he wasn’t the great unifier the Browns always hoped he’d be, often keeping to his tight inner circle away from team headquarters. In fact, the team revolved so heavily around Garrett, he often unwittingly dwarfed his teammates.”

Garrett was one of the few things that went right for the Browns in the recent past. In 134 career games at Cleveland, he racked up 412 tackles, 125.5 sacks, and 23 forced fumbles. He was twice named the Defensive Player of the Year, and broke the single-season record with 23 sacks last year. The Browns lost a serious amount of experience and production by trading Garrett away.

However, it allows for the other players on the defense to build their names. As long as Garrett was with the team, they would end up being overshadowed. It will be tough to make up for the star DE on the Browns defense now, but Cleveland had to move on at some point. The younger players on defense might be getting some more reps. 

Garrett’s standoff with the Browns in the past year might have also rubbed the team the wrong way. Before he signed his last contract with the Browns, he announced that he would not be entertaining any extensions from the franchise. And he was also planning to sit out of games. The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd also reported that Garrett was often late to the building and regularly skipped mandatory activities during his Cleveland career.

This was far from the image that Cleveland needed from one of their marquee players, especially having known that he wanted out of this team much before the trade happened. Last April, Haslam had even “challenged” Garrett “to become a real leader” for the team.

Now with the Los Angeles Rams, Garrett is getting what he had asked for. He is part of a championship-ready roster and arguably the strongest defense in the NFL. The Browns will falter some in his absence, but those on the team might not be too bothered by it.