Myles Garrett has skipped the Cleveland Browns’ voluntary offseason program once again. But what’s different this time? A contract restructure that shifted option bonus deadlines to seven days before the regular season, a new head coach, and trade speculation that hasn’t quieted down.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport downplayed it, saying Garrett “almost never shows up” for the voluntary workouts. General manager Andrew Berry backed that read at the owners’ meetings, calling Garrett a “career Brown” and “one of the faces of our organization.” Days later, new head coach Todd Monken tried explaining the importance of Garrett attending the voluntary workouts this year.

“First of all, as I’ve said this before, this is voluntary for our players to be here,” Monken said. “I think if you asked every coach in the NFL, would they like every player to be there, that of course. I think there’s certain parts of what we do from a connection standpoint, that I think is important to be here. From a schematic standpoint, from a work standpoint, not so much.”

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While it’s the same coach-speak we hear every time a player skips workouts, Monken doubled down, stating, “It is voluntary. Myles will be ready. I’m not worried about Myles.”

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Last season, even during the OTAs, Myles was enjoying himself in Japan at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. He still showed up in September and broke the single-season sack record with his 23.0. Additionally, Monken had already gone further at the owners’ meetings, heaping praise on Garrett.

“I don’t see a time where I would not want Myles Garrett part of our team,” Monken said, per Tom Pelissero. “I can’t even envision that, where I would not want Myles Garrett to be a Cleveland Brown.”

A first-year head coach doesn’t have to go that far. Monken went there anyway.

The Browns aren’t the only team dealing with a superstar who doesn’t want to participate in voluntary activities. In Miami, running back De’Von Achane failed to report for his team’s first offseason workout, with new head coach Jeff Hafley stating, “It is part of the business.” The difference is that Achane is on a rookie deal entering his final year, and his holdout is a contract play. Garrett just signed a mega extension in 2025 that briefly made him the highest-paid defender in the league. This decision is not made due to monetary bargaining chips.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson appeared for the first day of the season under the new head coach, Jesse Minter, in Baltimore. Whereas previously Jackson had avoided such optional practices as Garrett, he now comes forward to join an unknown coaching staff. If he’d stayed home, that approach would have been legal too. But only one of those moves sends a message to a first-year coach trying to build a new system.

However, the business case behind trading Garrett never made sense. PFF gave the Browns’ defensive line the top ranking among all teams in the league last year. This means that their defensive line was anchored by Garrett and his record-breaking skills. Trading him would mean making an effort to repair the problems with the offense by tearing down the only working part of the defense.

By the way, they had a 5-12 season despite Garrett’s efforts. Garrett is not Monken’s responsibility. In addition, he neither needs the workouts nor will get any pay for them thanks to his new contract arrangement. All he gets from these exercises is bonding with his fellow players, and that’s what OTAs and camps are for.

What Monken really needs to focus on is the QB room.

Who starts for Todd Monken?

The Browns had three separate QBs for three consecutive weeks during the year 2025. This was neither a planned competition nor a strategic succession plan; it was just a season that broke down time after time and required a new solution every week. Monken will have to handle the room where Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel play. And the coach sees upside.

“I thought all three guys were bright-eyed, wanting to learn. You couldn’t ask for a better start in that QB room,” Monken said. “There’s enough there of all three. I think we’d all be able to say that. There’s enough there to really like Deshaun and the way he plays. And there’s enough there to really like the way Shedeur played at the back end of the year. And there’s enough early in the year from Dillon.”

But who’s the starter? Last offseason, former head coach Kevin Stefanski declared the QB spot an open competition and claimed evaluations would run all the way till September. Under Monken this year, the competition is back. But he’s not putting all his hopes on one quarterback, and that’s already an improvement.

“Someone’s going to have to start off first, and someone’s going to go second, and someone’s going to go third. And then we’ll be willing to switch that,” Monken continued. “That’s on a daily basis, what we see. Just like any position, that’s not set in stone. That’s something we can flip, just like the practise phase. We can flip that any given day to how we see fit that gives us the best chance to develop our players.”

But at the owners’ meetings, Monken had already said the reps won’t be split evenly, and the distribution would follow “where the year ended last year.” Sanders finished the season as the Browns’ starter. If that’s indeed where they are starting the rep distribution, the table seems tilted against Gabriel and Watson.

None of these three is in good optics either, making the decision tough for Monken. Watson hasn’t been very impressive, having a career-low quarterback rating of 35.03 since joining the team before an Achilles injury prematurely ended his 2025 campaign. On the other hand, even the young talents struggled, where Gabriel ended up 37th of 38 qualifying players in his debut year, while Sanders came last, even after being made the starter by season’s end.

Gabriel’s absence sharpens the lean toward Sanders even more. After coming into the Browns building, Monken has shared a lighthearted moment with Sanders and even met with Watson once. But Gabriel is the one player who hasn’t checked in with the building or the coaches yet. Reps follow whoever finished last season as the starter. Gabriel not being in the building is a disadvantage he’s creating before the competition formally opens.

Meanwhile, Cleveland isn’t the only team heading into 2026 without a settled answer at quarterback. At least 9 teams needed quarterback clarity as of March 2026. One scout described the draft class as “razor thin,” And the free agent market as one that “sucks unless you’re looking for broken down old guys.” The Browns at least have three bodies to try their luck on.

Of those 9 teams, the Vikings brought in Kyler Murray to solve their crisis. Kirk Cousins went to help the Raiders, the Colts locked up Daniel Jones to a two-year, $88 million deal, and the Jets moved on to Geno Smith.

However, Cleveland’s case stands out because it’s self-inflicted. Neither the Jets, Cardinals, nor Raiders sought such an outcome; rather, it came as a result of injuries, poor contracts, and failed draft picks. The Browns deliberately selected two quarterbacks in last year’s draft, retained Watson on their roster, and now boast a head coach who doesn’t have a clue about the starters. In some way, it’s like they’re deliberately delaying their answer until the very last moment.

The Browns’ QB room provides yet another positive attribute for Sanders, who posted an impressive YPC of 11.7 yards during the previous season. This metric placed him among the top 10 players among 43 quarterbacks with no fewer than 150 dropbacks. According to Monken, he demonstrated “elite playmaking ability.”

A coach found something special in the room that had little to offer. The position may be available, but not all candidates are equal.