The Los Angeles Rams just got the best pass rusher in football. The Cleveland Browns just got the largest haul of draft picks in recent NFL trade history.
Cleveland traded two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to Los Angeles in a blockbuster deal that was reportedly finalized in early June. The exact details of the package are still being reported, but most sources have it as multiple first-round picks, a second-round pick, and at least one starting-caliber player heading to Cleveland.
Sean McVay and Les Snead are not playing for tomorrow. They are playing for right now. The Rams sold out their long-term draft capital to acquire a 30-year-old superstar pass rusher because they believe their Super Bowl window is open right now, and Garrett is the missing piece.
That is a defensible read. The Rams have Matthew Stafford under center, a productive offensive line, a strong receiver corps headlined by Puka Nacua, and a defense that already had Aaron Donald’s heir apparents in place. The one thing they were missing was a true edge-rushing terror. Now they have him.
Garrett is a generational pass rusher. He has 102.5 career sacks across nine seasons. He has been first-team All-Pro four times. He is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, including the 2024 award. He is the kind of player who can wreck a game by himself, take over a fourth quarter, and demand a constant double team that frees up everyone else on the defense.
The Browns got tired of watching that talent be wasted on bad football. Cleveland has had a quarterback problem for years, and the Deshaun Watson contract has been an albatross on the salary cap and on team morale. Garrett reportedly told the front office months ago that he wanted out, and Cleveland eventually decided that trading him for a king’s ransom was better than fighting him for two more years of a contract he no longer wanted to honor.
The Browns front office under Andrew Berry deserves credit for getting full value out of the trade. The reported package gives Cleveland enough draft ammunition to either reset the roster entirely or trade up for a franchise quarterback in the 2027 draft. Either path is more viable than continuing to lose with Garrett wasting his prime.
The Rams defense is going to look different now. Chris Shula’s unit was already top-10 in most metrics last year. Adding Garrett means opposing offensive coordinators have to scheme around him every single snap. Double teams open up everyone else. Quick passes open up the linebacker corps. Holds and clipping flags become inevitable.
The contract structure will be the next story. Garrett has two years remaining on his current deal with cap hits north of $30 million each year. The Rams will likely look to extend him this offseason to lower the immediate cap impact and lock him up through 2030. Garrett wanted a Super Bowl contender. The Rams want to win a Super Bowl. The deal makes sense for everyone.
The NFC West got significantly tougher. The San Francisco 49ers are still the standard, but the Rams just narrowed the gap dramatically. The Seattle Seahawks are in transition under their new coaching staff. The Arizona Cardinals are still figuring out their quarterback situation. Los Angeles just became a real Super Bowl threat.
The AFC North got significantly weaker. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens just lost their biggest division rival’s most dangerous player. The Cincinnati Bengals get a much easier game on their schedule. The Browns themselves are now in full rebuild mode and likely will not seriously contend for the next two seasons.
This is the kind of trade that defines a coaching tenure. If the Rams win a Super Bowl with Garrett, McVay solidifies his place among the best of his generation. If they fall short and gave up too many picks to make it work, the trade gets second-guessed for years.
The bet is in. Myles Garrett is a Ram. The Super Bowl path just got a lot shorter for Los Angeles.
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.
