Why Did the Browns Trade Myles Garrett? Rams Land Defensive Player of the Year in Stunner
The Cleveland Browns just pulled off the most shocking move of the entire NFL offseason. They traded two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, and the football world is still trying to catch its breath.
The package coming back to Cleveland is headlined by Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder, and a 2029 third. That is a serious haul for any team, but trading away the best defensive player in the NFL is not something you do without weeks of internal debate.
Garrett is coming off a season for the ages. He posted 23 sacks, a single-season NFL record, and he just signed a four-year, $160 million extension a year ago. The Browns insisted all offseason that he was untouchable. The Rams apparently changed their minds.
This Is the Rams Going All In
Los Angeles surprised everyone when they took quarterback Ty Simpson in the first round of the draft. That was the appetizer. Trading for Garrett is the main course. The Rams are openly building a roster designed to win right now, and they paired their new sack monster with Byron Young, who had 12 sacks of his own last year.
That pass-rush duo is going to be a nightmare for NFC quarterbacks. Add Garrett to a defense that already had real bite under Sean McVay, and the Rams just jumped into the championship conversation in the most aggressive way possible.
There is risk in everything they did. Garrett turns 31 next season and carries a massive cap number. The picks they gave up could have been used to keep their young core together. But this Rams front office has never been afraid to mortgage the future when they think the window is open. They did it before and walked away with a Lombardi.
Why Cleveland Pulled the Trigger
The Browns are clearly rebuilding around the future, even if they will not say it that way. There was some reporting earlier this year that Garrett was unhappy with the team’s decision to pass over former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for the head coaching job. The frustration was there. Cleveland denied a trade was happening right up until the moment it was.
Verse is no consolation prize. He is a former first-round pick who put up 7.5 sacks last year and earned a second straight Pro Bowl nod. Pair him with a stack of high draft picks, and the Browns just gave themselves a serious foundation to build on for the next half decade.
Still, this is a tough day to be a Cleveland fan. Garrett was the face of the franchise, the player who showed up every Sunday no matter how grim the situation got. Now he is gone, headed to Hollywood with a Super Bowl-or-bust mandate hanging over him.
The NFL just got a lot more interesting. The Rams are the new bullies. The Browns are the new rebuilders. And the dominoes from this trade are going to keep falling all summer.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
