The NFL just dropped the trade of the summer. Cleveland has agreed to send two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the LA Rams in exchange for edge rusher Jared Verse and multiple draft picks, per reports from Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter.
Let me be clear about the magnitude here. Myles Garrett is one of the five best defensive players in the NFL. Trades of this caliber, involving a player at the absolute peak of his powers, almost never happen. And yet here we are.
Why Cleveland Pulled The Trigger
The reporting has been building for months that Garrett wanted out. He submitted a trade request last winter, walked it back, then the tension bubbled back up throughout the offseason. Eventually, both sides reached a point where continuing the relationship became untenable.
You cannot force a superstar to be somewhere he does not want to be. Cleveland tried, publicly and privately, to convince Garrett that better days were coming. Garrett saw a roster that has finished with a losing record more often than not and decided he had waited long enough.
Trading him now, rather than letting the situation fester further, is the responsible front office move. The return is significant, and Cleveland reboots its defense around Verse and picks. That is a defensible plan even if it hurts to watch Garrett leave.
The Rams Are All In
Sean McVay and Les Snead have never been shy about aggressive moves, but this might top all of them. The Rams are pairing Verse’s replacement with an already stout defensive front, and the resulting group has a chance to be terrifying.
Adding Garrett to a defense that already had teeth turns the Rams into an immediate Super Bowl favorite in the NFC. When you have a quarterback in Matthew Stafford playing at a high level and you add a top-three pass rusher, the calculus shifts dramatically.
Jared Verse Is Not A Consolation Prize
Do not sleep on the piece Cleveland got back. Verse was the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year and a former first-round pick with real star potential. He is 24 years old, controllable, and coming off a season that suggested he might be one of the next great edge defenders in the league.
Cleveland does not become a bad defense overnight. They just become a younger and cheaper one. Verse gives them a foundational piece to build around, and the additional draft picks let the front office continue reshaping the roster.
Is Verse Myles Garrett right now? Absolutely not. But in three years, that gap might be smaller than people think.
The AFC Shifts
The AFC pass-rush hierarchy just changed dramatically. Cleveland goes from having the best edge defender in the conference to having a very good young one. That matters when the Bengals, Ravens, Bills, and Chiefs all have to plan their protection schemes.
Meanwhile, the NFC just added its scariest defensive player. Every NFC quarterback looking at their schedule for the LA game now has to think about Garrett coming off the edge behind an already loaded front seven.
Bottom Line
Blockbusters like this reshape the league. The Rams got aggressive at the exact right moment, Cleveland squeezed maximum value from a situation gone bad, and Garrett gets a fresh start on a contender. Everyone got something they needed.
The 2026 season just got a lot more interesting. And the Super Bowl odds just got a lot more clear in the NFC.
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.
