Browns general manager Andrew Berry was asked on Tuesday if Cleveland received any reassurances that Denzel Ward was still fully on board in the wake of Myles Garrett's blockbuster trade to the Rams.
Berry told reporters it was "most appropriate for Denzel to speak for himself," but he noted the cornerback remains a big part of the Browns and that the Garrett transaction did nothing to change that.
Four days later, Ward has spoken.
"I definitely still want to be here," Ward said Saturday at his celebrity softball game, per . "Myles is a good friend of mine, a great teammate, but things aren't lost. It's still Ohio against the world. People can doubt us, but we're going out there still to try to play our best ball and bring wins to this city."
Ward's comments would appear to squash any worries that the five-time Pro Bowler has become disillusioned with Cleveland's trajectory. Rather than lament the signaling of a potential long-term rebuild while entering his age-29 season with just two playoff trips under his belt, Ward is bought into trying to deliver an expectation-busting 2026 season.
He fits in nicely on a Browns defense that kept Cleveland in countless games last season, a unit that added All-Pro linebacker Quincy Williams in free agency, bolstered the secondary through the draft with second-round safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and now has 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse to build around as part of the haul for Garrett.
Still, Berry admitted earlier this week that trading Garrett, who the team handed a megadeal just last offseason, was never on his "bingo card."
Ward has two years left on the extension he signed in 2022 but doesn't have any guaranteed money remaining. Even if his wish -- and Berry's -- is for him to continue with the Browns, Ward's contract can be moved. Having just seen it with the Garrett trade, he's fully aware how quickly things can change.
"I could get traded, but I don't look too much into that stuff," he said. "It's the nature of the game. Say I do get traded, for me, wherever I'm at that's where I'm supposed to be. So if I'm here, I'm supposed to be here. If I go to a different team, that's where I'm supposed to be. But I love playing for the Cleveland Browns. I want to be here. I'm grateful wherever I'm at, whatever opportunity I get to go play football, that's what I do."
For now, he's a Brown, gearing up for his first professional season sans Garrett but confident in what Cleveland has cooking.
