Season Sack Record Previously Shared by Giants Legend Michael Strahan Falls

The NFL has a new record holder for the most sacks accumulated in a single season.

That would be Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who officially broke the record of 22.5 sacks that was held by legendary New York Giants defensive end and Super Bowl champion Michael Strahan since the 2001 season later shared with Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt/ Garrett snatched the record during his team's finale against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Garrett, who entered the game with 22 sacks, secured sole possession of the statistical record by sacking Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter while the Browns were dangling to a 17-12 lead in the AFC North matchup. The takedown pushed him up to a new career-high of 23 sacks.

MYLES GARRETT IS THE NEW SACK RECORD KING.

CLEvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/Jaa4aBGrIl
— NFL (@NFL) January 4, 2026

The Browns' All-Pro edge rusher, who holds at least 10 sacks in eight of his nine pro seasons, had been eyeing the record for a few years and more closely down the second half of the 2025 campaign. He has been a constant factor in the pass rush for a perennially bad franchise, posting 14+ in that category while missing no more than one game over the past years.

Garrett's chase truly became a weekly watch around the league after his impressive performance in Week 8 against the New England Patriots, when the 30-year-old and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year notched a season-high five sacks in the Browns' 32-13 loss.

Garrett would receive another jolt in his sack column two weeks later, when he recorded four against the Baltimore Ravens in a 23-16 loss. That outing placed him at 16 total sacks with seven games left on the slate, and he was able to pull it out at the buzzer of the Browns' 5-12 season.

While the newest feat occurred in a 17-game season rather than 16, it's still pretty impressive, given that Strahan, who set it in the slightly shorter campaign, had held onto the record for over two and a half decades.

Prior to him setting his own record, the title had belonged to former New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau for 21 years, sitting at 22 sacks, which the Hall of Fame player tallied as a part of the "New York Sack Exchange" of edge rushers for Gang Green just two years after the stat became an officially recorded one in the 1984 season.

New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan's single season sack record which he shred with T.J. Watt is no more. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Strahan would snatch it away from Gastineau in the season finale of the 2001 season against the Green Bay Packers, when he collected his 22.5 sack on quarterback Brett Favre, who fell on a botched play down the stretch of the 34-25 Packers win to change over the guard of the record to his opposing defender.

In the aftermath of that play, Strahan faced criticisms, including from Gastineau, regarding the legitimacy of his place in the record books, given there was a party of football minds who believed that Favre intentionally slid down to let the Giants great fall right on top of him and secure the deciding sack.

Nonetheless, it would belong solely to Strahan until the 2021 season, when Watt uncontroversially tied him at the 22.5 sacks record in his fifth stint with the Steelers. Watt also achieved the number in the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens and became one of six players in NFL history to record at least 22 sacks in a single season.

Garrett eclipsing Strahan in the record books wasn't the only connection to the Giants' franchise, either. Earlier this season, he became the first player since the one and only Lawrence Taylor to post 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons, a feat Taylor accomplished from 1984-1989 and included his career-high 20.5 sacks in 1986, which helped New York reach Super Bowl XX.

And if anyone wanted to know about what Burrow must feel like after being the opposing gunslinger who led his division rival to the top of the order, he helped Garrett notch the most sacks against a single quarterback in league history (12.

With his playing career far from over, Garrett now holds a total of 125.5 sacks in 134 total games with the Browns, which trails only Reggie White (137) in a player's first nine seasons.

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