Browns star Myles Garrett has only texted briefly with new head coach Todd Monken, is skipping minicamp

New Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken has yet to speak with his star edge rusher since landing his job back in January.

It doesn’t appear that’s going to happen anytime in the immediate future, either.

Myles Garrett is not attending the Browns’ voluntary minicamp that started on Tuesday. Instead, Garrett attended the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday and then flew across the country to Los Angeles for the premier of “Michael” with his girlfriend, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, on Monday.

Two-time NFL DPOY Myles Garrett & two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim shined on the "Michael" red carpet 🎬 🤩 pic.twitter.com/PiM69iFWIO

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 21, 2026

While the workouts this week are not mandatory, Garrett has only exchanged texts with Monken so far. It’s unclear when the two will meet face to face, or even hop on a phone call.

“It hasn’t been a lot,” Monken said of his communication with Garrett on Tuesday. “It’s fine. It’s just voluntary [this week]. We’re making a big deal out of this, we really are … We have other guys besides Myles that aren’t here. I wish they were here. They’ll be ready, we expect them to be ready, and we’ll be fired up when they’re here.”

"Myles and I have communicated by text. I've not spoken to him in person. It hasn't been a lot. It's fine. This is voluntary. We have other guys besides Myles that aren't here. I wish they were here. They'll be ready. They've communicated. Doesn't mean I like the communication,… pic.twitter.com/zSWOrOxlN5

— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) April 21, 2026

As Monken noted, Garrett’s absence this week likely doesn’t mean much. Plenty of notable players skip voluntary workouts in the offseason, and still show up as scheduled later in the summer.

Garrett, however, requested a trade before he reached a four-year, $160 million deal with the Browns in March. He won Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second time in his career last season after he set a NFL single-season record with 23 sacks. But the team went just 5-12 last year and missed the playoffs for the seventh time in the nine seasons that Garrett has been in the league.

Garrett, according to Pro Football Talk, also has a $1 million workout bonus in 2026 that requires him to participate in 84.375% of offseason sessions and in all minicamps and OTA days. He has very likely already lost that bonus by not participating on Tuesday.

Garrett isn’t the only Browns star that isn’t at workouts this week. Denzel Ward and Jerry Jeudy were also among those who were absent.

While he said repeatedly that he wanted Garrett and others with them this week, Monken insisted he isn’t concerned.

“They’ve communicated, OK? It doesn’t mean I like the communication, but it’s voluntary,” Monken said. “I wish they were all here.”