The Cleveland Browns, along with many other NFL teams, were able to open voluntary organized team activities last week but players and the team were in negotiations for what that would look like.
Due to COVID-19, OTAs were cancelled last season and a very limited set of offseason training took place. The NFLPA believed that helped players stay healthy and are pushing for this to continue.
The Browns were able to have a successful season despite all the limitations and breaking in a whole new coaching staff and a lot of new players. Putting together a winning record, a playoff birth, and a playoff victory was an impressive feat given where the Browns had been and the lack of a standard offseason.
It looks like this offseason might be closer to normal and we got the first sign of that today as Myles Garrett shared on Instagram a photo of he and his dog getting on a plane with the caption “Tell Stefanski we on the way.”
Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward are two of the building blocks of a defense that has gone through an overhaul this offseason. Garrett will have newcomers Takk McKinley, Jadeveon Clowney, Malik Jackson, and Andrew Billings joining him on the defensive line while Anthony Walker and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah add to the linebacking corps.
Joining Ward in the defensive backfield are John Johnson III, Troy Hill, and Greg Newsome II along with the returning Greedy Williams and Grant Delpit.
That Garrett is sharing that he is on the way is a great sign for the Browns. While he has never been an overly vocal leader, having the best and highest-paid player on the unit showing up is a great leading-by-example situation.
It is likely that we will see a lot more of these posts in the coming days but not every player will be showing up next week. Besides who volunteers to be there and who does, it will be interesting to learn what the players and team negotiated as a part of the upcoming OTAs.
No matter what, Myles Garrett is on his way to Berea and “Stefanski” has to be happy to see that.