With the Super Bowl just around the corner, the NFL is already making headlines - and not just in Vegas. On Thursday night, Myles Garrett added another milestone to his already stacked résumé, taking home the 2026 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
It’s the second time he’s earned the honor, with his first coming in 2023. This season, though, Garrett didn’t just dominate - he rewrote the record books.
Let’s start with the headline: 23 sacks. That’s not just a personal best - that’s an all-time best.
Garrett broke the NFL’s single-season sack record, surpassing legends like T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan.
In a league where quarterbacks are getting the ball out faster than ever, Garrett still found a way to get home more than anyone before him. That’s not just elite production - that’s generational impact.
But his 2026 campaign was far more than just a sack-fest. Garrett also racked up a career-high 60 tackles, forced three fumbles, and led the league with 33 tackles for loss.
That last number is telling - it shows how often he was living in the backfield, blowing up plays before they even had a chance to develop. Whether it was collapsing the pocket or stuffing the run, Garrett was a one-man wrecking crew.
And the league took notice. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month honors in November, was selected to his seventh Pro Bowl, and locked down his fifth First-Team All-Pro selection. All of this before hitting the big 3-0 - a reminder that he’s still very much in the heart of his prime.
For Cleveland, a season that didn’t deliver much in the win column still had a silver lining. Garrett’s historic year gave Browns fans something worth celebrating - a player who’s not just great, but historically great. He’s now firmly etched into the NFL’s record books, and he continues to build what’s shaping up to be a Hall of Fame career.
From Texas A&M standout to two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett isn’t just dominating - he’s defining an era of defensive football.