The official sack record sits at 22.5, shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. The unofficial record sits at 23, set by Al "Bubba" Baker in 1978 with the Detroit Lions' famed Silver Rush.
The discrepancy: The NFL didn't start tracking sacks until 1982. A lot of football was played before that season. According to Pro Football Reference, which analyzed box scores and film from 1960-1982, Baker took the QB down 23 times in 1978.
Speaking with Tony Grossi for TheLandOnDemand.com, Baker said he's rooting for Myles Garrett to break both the official and unofficial sack record.
"Myles Garrett will break the 23 because he's driven," Baker told Grossi. "And I guarantee you he knows Al Bubba Baker has 23. So that's what he'll break and that's what he wants to break. And he'll do it because that's how [pass rushers'] mindsets are.
"And he is the premier defensive player in all of the National Football League. Has been for, I'd say, five years. I mean, you would think that the Browns are 15-2 with how many sacks he has. He's just an all-around great defensive end. He's a phenomenal end."
Garrett leads the NFL with 19.0 sacks in 2025, setting a Browns single-season record. He has three more sacks than three entire teams (Cincinnati 18, Carolina 18, San Francisco 16).
Garrett has three games with 3.0 sacks -- only Lawrence Taylor has more in a season (four in his MVP 1986 season).
He's currently on pace for 26 sacks, which would obliterate all the records – official and unofficial.
"Myles Garrett's doing all that right now," Baker told Grossi. "I can guarantee you that. He knows about the record. He knows he wants to shut me or anybody else up. He doesn't want 22 and a half. He wants 25, 27. And he can do it. That's the way we think.
"And let me tell you, the true test is the last ones to get to 23. Let's say these last five. You know why? Because every offensive coordinator is going to say, 'If anybody beats it, it damn well better not be number 95.'
"I wish him the best because nobody's discussed my 23. I'm the guy that's the unofficial guy. But that 22 and a half? T.J. Watt is there and Michael Strahan, I'd like to see him do nothing better than to put it in a place where nobody can question it. Yeah, that's right. That's Myles Garrett. And he deserves it."
Garrett's 0.72 get-off is the fastest in the NFL this season, per Next Gen Stats, allowing him to beat double teams (chipped on 25.6 percent of his rushes, second-most in 2025 behind only T.J. Watt).
"Myles Garrett is a freak," Baker said. "He's faster than the running backs in my day. He's bigger, stronger. Well-conditioned. These guys have their own trainers and all that."
Baker believes Garrett can take down the single-season sack record, but stopped short of calling him the best pass rusher of all time.
"It's very premature, because the best pass rusher of all time has 200 [sacks]," Baker said. "His name is Bruce Smith."
If he breaks the single-season record, Garrett (121.5 career sacks) can try to aim at Smith next.
