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Myles Garrett unanimously wins NFL Defensive Player of Year
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- Myles Garrett unanimously wins NFL Defensive Player of Year
Myles Garrett etched his place in NFL history this season by recording a record of 23 sacks . On Thursday, the Cleveland Browns defensive end again took a place apart from almost all of his peers and predecessors.
Garrett was unanimously voted the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year for the 2025 season, following J.J. Watt in 2014 as just the second player in league history to earn a clean sweep of the award.
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Garrett, who also won the award in 2023, earned all 50 first-place votes over a field of finalists that included fellow pass rushers Will Anderson Jr. , Micah Parsons , Nik Bonitto and Aidan Hutchinson .
The chase for the single-season sack record went down to the final week of the season, with Garrett's final few opponents chipping him repeatedly and throwing quick passes so as not to provide him with any easy opportunities at eclipsing the mark. But in the fourth quarter of the finale against the Cincinnati Bengals , the ninth-year veteran corralled Joe Burrow to beat the previous mark of 22 ½ sacks, set by Hall of Famer Michael Strahan in 2001 and equaled by Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt in 2021.
"That's history," said then- Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. "He's the sack king. That's unbelievable. They've been playing this game for a long time, and for him to go get that in the circumstances, with the degree of difficulty in which he got it this season, is unbelievable. He's the Defensive Player of the Year. You can make him the MVP if I had a vote. And I think the reaction of his teammates is genuine. That's real. These guys care about each other."
Garrett's record output came after he kicked off last offseason by requesting a trade from the Browns. After a little more than a month, however, he agreed to terms with the team on a four-year, $160 million contract, which at the time made him the league's highest-paid non-quarterback.
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Still, the Browns would stumble to a 5-12 record, with an offense that ranked 31st in scoring unable to capitalize on the advantages afforded by Garrett and the defense. Cleveland fired Stefanski after the season , later replacing him with former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken . Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz remains under contract with the Browns, but his return is uncertain after he was passed up for the head-coaching position.
Even as Cleveland eyes a new day, the organization is still counting on Garrett to run it back in 2026.
"I haven't talked to him since the day after the season, but I'm highly confident Myles will come in here and break the sack record again and be the Defensive Player (of the Year)," owner Jimmy Haslam said Tuesday. "He hasn't been named it (yet), but I'll be shocked if he isn't, and (he) will be a leader of our team."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Myles Garrett wins NFL Defensive Player of the Year in unanimous vote
