Who Won the Myles Garrett Trade, Browns or Rams? What the Jared Verse Deal Really Means
The Browns traded Myles Garrett, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, to the Los Angeles Rams. Back came edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder and a conditional 2029 third.
That third-rounder has the most interesting fine print in the deal. It escalates all the way to a first-round pick if the Rams ever turn around and trade Garrett to another AFC North team. Cleveland’s front office thought that one through.
My verdict: the Browns won this trade, and it is not especially close.
Why Cleveland Comes Out Ahead
Start with the obvious. Garrett is 30 and on a massive contract, and the Browns were not close to contending during any window in which he would still be the best defensive player on the field. Every sack he produced in Cleveland was a sack in a losing season.
Verse is a two-time Pro Bowler and years younger, on a rookie-scale deal. Getting a player of that caliber back in a deal for a veteran star almost never happens. Usually you get picks and a shrug.
Then you add a 2027 first, a 2028 second and a 2029 third with a first-round escalator attached. That is a full draft-capital refresh for a team that needs exactly that.
Verse’s own reaction tells you plenty about what Cleveland got. He admitted he was upset when he first heard, then said he saw two choices: work or give up, and that he has never been a quitter. He has since said his main focus is the Browns organization and their fans, and that you have to earn that every week. That is the voice of a player who is going to be a problem for the AFC North for a long time.
The Rams Made a Very Rams Move
Los Angeles has done this before. In 2021 they traded a haul for Matthew Stafford in the year the Super Bowl was played in Los Angeles, and then they won it. Les Snead does not collect draft picks, he spends them.
So the logic is familiar. Push every chip in, chase a title, worry about 2029 in 2029. Given how the Rams are built, it is a defensible philosophy.
The early returns have been rough. Garrett’s debut against the 49ers in Melbourne ended in a 27-7 loss, and he did not record a sack, a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss, a tackle, or even a pressure. Zero on the entire stat line.
One game is one game, and Garrett is too good for that to continue. Nobody should write off a player of his caliber off a single afternoon on another continent. But when you trade a Pro Bowl edge rusher and three picks for a guy, the grace period is short.
The Real Question
The Rams do not need Garrett to be great for four years. They need him to be great for one January. If Los Angeles lifts a trophy, nobody there will care what the 2027 first turns into.
Cleveland does not have that luxury and did not pretend otherwise. The Browns took a 30-year-old star they could not build around, converted him into a younger star they can, and added three picks on top of it.
Trading a generational player almost always gets a general manager roasted. This one should not. Cleveland got the better half of a trade that a lot of teams would have botched, and they did it with a conditional clause that punishes the Rams for ever sending Garrett back into the division.
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.
