Reading Myles Garrett's Absence

Rich spent a segment on Myles Garrett's absence from the Cleveland Browns' voluntary offseason program. The setup was layered. Garrett's contract was recently restructured with bonuses shifted to September, which some reported as routine cap mechanics and others read as possibly creating space for a future trade. New head coach Todd Monken opened his first OTAs this week. Garrett was not there.

Monken handled the question with measured language. He said OTAs are voluntary. He said any coach in the NFL would want all his players there, that there are parts of the work, connection and camaraderie, that matter more in person. He said it's his job to make players want to be there. He said Myles will be ready. Not worried about Myles.

Rich's response was delivered from behind the Rich Eisen Productions desk as CEO and president of the company, not just the host. If he ever paid any member of his staff $40 million a year, he would expect that staff member to show up to everything. Before Brockman. Before anybody. There would be nothing voluntary about it. The staff agreed in unison.

False equivalency acknowledged. Running the Cleveland Browns is not running the Rich Eisen Show. Rich granted the point, though he also argued the show has had more success than the Browns, which earned a laugh but landed.

The real Rich take came next. Garrett does not need to be at OTAs to play football in September. He can put his hand in the dirt Week 1 and chase whoever Cleveland asks him to chase. Rich gets that. What he does not get is skipping OTAs at this specific moment. New head coach. New staff. New systems. Other veterans on the Browns looking around asking where Myles is because Myles is such a presence.

Rich compared it to his own situation at NFL Network. Twenty-plus years in, he appreciates getting some slack on certain events. But when rubber meets road, new boss in the building, same as the old boss, you show up. He did that last week at NFL Network when ESPN leadership came through. Mike McQuade got a shout out. Big Bang Theory references followed.

The close was the point. If the Browns are paying a man with a four and seven zeros after it, that's not latitude. If Garrett is not there, it's fair for everyone to assume he does not want to be there. Whether that assumption is right or wrong, the absence writes the story.