Myles Garrett: Mason Rudolph incident “a small bump in the road”

[Steely McBeam]

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Clearly, the Browns didn’t hold it against Myles Garrett that he was suspended the last six games of last season.

And the newly rich defensive end said he’s hoping to move beyond last year’s ignominious end, after he clocked Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with a helmet.

“My life is much bigger than one moment,” Garrett said Thursday, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Me, the Browns and my teammates are going to look past that and move on to greater success and that will be a small bump in the road.”

Garrett’s new deal made him the highest-paid defensive player in the league, averaging $25 million a year on the new five years. His play has justified it, as he had 10 sacks in the 10 games he played last year. But General Manager Andrew Berry acknowledged the incident in yesterday’s press release, since that’s not the kind of thing you can just blithely overlook.

“It would be remiss of me not to address the fact that we are choosing to do this after a season during which Myles was suspended,” Berry said. “Myles has been accountable for his mistake and we view the incident as well out of character. We don’t believe one moment should define him based on how he has handled himself prior to and in the months after last year’s incident. We are excited to ensure that Myles will stay in Cleveland for the foreseeable future.”

They paid him as such, and now hope he follows up on his word.