Myles Garrett Traded to Rams in Blockbuster Deal: How LA Pulled Off the NFL’s Boldest Move
The Los Angeles Rams just pulled off the biggest trade of the NFL offseason. Two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett is heading to LA in a blockbuster deal that sends edge rusher Jared Verse and multiple draft picks to the Cleveland Browns. Sean McVay just landed the single most dominant pass rusher in football.
Garrett, 30, is coming off a record-setting season in which he registered 23 sacks. That’s the highest single-season total in NFL history. He carried a Browns defense that had no business being competitive given the chaos at quarterback, and he forced his way out the door with a public trade request that became impossible for Cleveland to deny.
The Rams paid the price. Verse was the Defensive Rookie of the Year just two seasons ago. He’s young, cheap, and one of the most promising edge defenders in the league. Giving him up plus first and second round picks is the kind of bet you make when you believe Garrett can be the difference in a Super Bowl run.
Les Snead has never been afraid of the bold trade. The Rams GM operates on a different timeline than most front offices, and his willingness to mortgage the future for Super Bowl windows has paid off before. The 2021 title run was built on this exact philosophy. The 2026 attempt looks similar.
For Garrett, this is the deal he’s been chasing for years. He’s going from a Browns team that has not made the postseason for him to a Rams franchise that has been to the playoffs five of the last six years. Matthew Stafford is still slinging it, Puka Nacua is one of the best receivers in the league, and the defense was already good before Garrett showed up.
Now Garrett joins a defensive front that includes Aaron Donald, who just hinted at a comeback, and Kobie Turner, who has quietly been one of the best interior pass rushers in the league. Defensive coordinator Chris Shula now has the kind of personnel to scheme up nightmares for every offensive coordinator in the NFC.
Garrett said his goal is to break Bruce Smith’s career sack record of 200. He sits at 125.5 currently. That math requires another six to seven seasons of high-end production. With the Rams, the path to that record gets easier. He’ll see fewer double teams thanks to Donald and Turner, and the LA defensive scheme is designed to free its edges in advantageous matchups.
The Browns are now in full rebuild mode. They have draft capital, they have a young defensive cornerstone in Verse, and they have a quarterback decision to make. The Deshaun Watson contract is the albatross that won’t die, but at least the front office has more flexibility than it had a week ago.
The NFC West just got harder. The 49ers have been the class of the division for years, but the Rams quietly built a roster that can match them at every position group. Garrett tips the balance. Add him to a defense that already had Pro Bowl talent and you have a unit that can carry games when the offense sputters.
Super Bowl odds for the Rams have already moved. LA is now in the top tier of NFC contenders. Sean McVay and Les Snead just made the bet of the offseason, and the rest of the league is going to spend the next four months trying to figure out how to keep up.
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.
