With 19 sacks through 12 games, the entire league is aware of how close Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is to the NFL single-season record. The 29-year-old certainly has his eye on the goal and wants to break the record in a very specific way.
Garrett not only envisions himself setting the new standard, but he already sees the way he does it. The six-time All-Pro wants the moment that he breaks the record to “look like a game-winner,” according to Zac Jackson of ‘The Athletic.'
Garrett needs just 3.5 sacks in the next five games to tie the record, and four to break it. Michael Strahan officially set the 22.5-sack record in 2001 with the New York Giants, with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt tying it in 2021.
While Strahan and Watt officially own the record, the Detroit Lions' Al Baker unofficially recorded 23 sacks in 1978, according to Pro Football Reference. Sacks were not officially recorded by the NFL until 1981, leaving Baker out of the conversation.
Official or not, Garrett is on track to surpass Strahan and Watt's 22.5 mark and Baker's 23-sack total. Garrett's current pace has him breaking both records in Week 15, when the Browns take on the Chicago Bears.
However, Garrett already has a pair of four-sack games in 2025 and could break the record as soon as the Browns' Week 14 game against the Tennessee Titans. The Titans currently allow the fourth-highest sack rate in the league, leading to quarterback Cam Ward getting sacked an NFL-high 48 times.
Barring injury, Strahan's record, which stood for over two decades, is likely in its final weeks at the top. Cleveland has not had much success in 2025, with Garrett being the lone bright spot.
