On Sunday, Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett played what was arguably the best game of his NFL career, sacking Patriots quarterback Drake Maye a franchise-record five times. You might hear that stat and think, "wow, that kind of defensive performance is good enough that it might have made up for the Browns' anemic offense," but no, friend — it was not. It was not enough to do that at all. It didn't even do that, like, 10 percent. Instead, it was just another sad day for everyone who thinks that Garrett deserves better.
Because despite his individual performance on Sunday, the Browns lost, and they lost BADLY, falling 32-13 and dropping Cleveland to 2-6 on the year. It's good proof that it doesn't matter if you have the best player on the field when everyone around him is playing like complete...well, you know, right? You've got to feel bad for Browns fans — shoutout to my boy Sad Nick, who I gave that nickname in grad school because being a Browns fan made him sad all the time — and you have to feel bad for Garrett. They deserve better.
Garrett isn't the only player whose current situation is just a sad waste of talent. Here are five NFL stars who are being wasted in their current situations.
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Sunday was the latest example of the Browns wasting Garrett's talent, but it's far from the only example.
Garrett has been in the NFL since 2017, when the Browns drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick. He's made six Pro Bowls, four All-Pro teams and was the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. In all that time, Garrett has appeared in three playoff games.
Cleveland has one of the most destructive pass rushers of this generation, a guy who has already recorded his eighth double-digit sack season in a row. Somehow, in his ninth season, he seems to be getting better, which is just insane, right? He led the NFL in tackles for loss last season with 22 and currently leads again this season with 15.
And yet, here we are. The Browns are heading for a top-five draft pick again, and Garrett is having career games on a day where his team still gives up 32 points. What are we doing here? Why is Garrett in Cleveland? The team could likely get a huge draft haul for him, because basically every team would have some level of interest in trading for him.
Breece Hall, New York Jets
Someone please save Breece Hall.
The Jets finally got their first win of the season on Sunday, with Hall being the primary reason for that. He rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and he also managed to throw the game-winning touchdown to Mason Taylor with 1:54 to play. New York trailed 31-16 entering the fourth quarter, which is when all three Hall touchdowns happened.
It's just the latest example of Hall being stuck in New York. We're now in the fourth season of his career, and he's yet to record a 1,000-yard season. Sure, his receiving usage has given him two 1,000-yard seasons from scrimmage, but his rushing yardage numbers could spike if he just played somewhere with a competent offense around him.
De'Von Achane, Miami Dolphins
A healthy De'Von Achane is one of the most exciting players in the NFL. Unfortunately, he's stuck on a sinking ship in Miami.
Last season, Achane finished with 1,499 scrimmage yards for a Dolphins team that went 8-9. He's on pace for similar numbers this year on a team that is on track to finish with a much worse record, which would mean that every season for Achane since his rookie year has featured his team winning fewer games than the year before.
Achane could be a game-breaking talent in the same way Jahmyr Gibbs is in Detroit if he were in the right situation, but inconsistent quarterback play for Miami has held Achane back. These are the prime years for a running back, and it's a shame he's wasting that time on a flailing football team.
Brian Burns, New York Giants
Burns is in his seventh NFL season and has yet to play in the postseason. He spent his first five years in Carolina, only to be traded in 2024 to the Giants. Now, the Panthers look like they might have some semblance of a future while Burns is getting after the quarterback for a 2-6 team.
There's reason to think things will get better soon in New York with Jaxson Dart at quarterback, but his best playmakers are already done for the year, so that turnaround would need to wait until 2026, at the earliest. But Burns is about to dominate the Giants salary cap, with his 2026 contract set to take up 11.31 percent of it, which is going to make it even harder to build a good team around him. That's not Burns' fault — get your money, bro! — but it's a shame they couldn't figure things out before his cap hit exploded.
Chris Olave - New Orleans Saints
Alvin Kamara seems content to just ride out the rest of his NFL career in New Orleans, so I'm not going to write about him here, other than to say that if Kamara hadn't threatened to retire if the Saints traded him, I'd have written about him.
Instead, let's talk about another offensive player on the Saints roster: wide receiver Chris Olave.
Is Olave a star? IDK! He has a pair of 1,000-yard seasons under his belt, but missed nine games last year, which stunted his development somewhat. But you know what stunted his development more? The list of quarterbacks who Olave has caught a pass from in the NFL.
That list: Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, Jake Haener, Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton and Derek Carr.
I mean ... come on, how is a player supposed to succeed with a list like that? Let's get Olave somewhere that has a good quarterback.