Myles Garrett‘s 2025 season was already historic, but the Cleveland Browns‘ star edge rusher has made more history.
Garrett won Defensive Player of the Year for the 2025 NFL season, unanimously winning the award during Thursday’s NFL Honors. This is the second time that Garrett has been named Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the ninth player in NFL history to win the award twice. His first Defensive Player of the Year award win came in 2023.
Garrett made the ultimate case to win this year’s award by breaking the all-time single-season sack record. He logged 23.0 sacks over 17 games, breaking the record previously shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt by a half-sack.
“It doesn’t just start with me,” Garrett said. “It starts with great teammates, a great organization, great coaches being able to put us in position. I’m thankful for every single one of teammates to help get me up here. It’s not possible without them.”
Garrett’s dominance was on display in a handful of games this season as well. He had three games where he recorded at least three sacks, including a five-sack performance against the AFC champion New England Patriots in October.
Garrett’s historic season allowed him to beat out a handful of other standout edge rushers for the award. Houston Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. finished second with 77 points, Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons came in third (63), followed by Denver Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto (52) and Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson (42).
The win also comes less than a year after Garrett signed a then-record extension with the Browns. His four-year, $160 million extension, which he signed last March, was the largest contract signed by a non-quarterback in NFL history at the time, paving the way for a few other players to receive rich deals last offseason. The extension also came weeks after Garrett requested a trade.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
