Rams Acquire Myles Garrett from Browns in Blockbuster Trade, Earning

The Los Angeles Rams have made another bombshell move in an offseason full of them. This one, though, is by far the biggest: Browns superstar edge defender Myles Garrett is headed to Los Angeles for EDGE Jared Verse , a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick, per CBS Sports lead NFL Insider Jonathan Jones .

Garrett is coming off an NFL record-setting 23 sacks in 2025, a season that culminated in his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Prior to this deal, no player who had ever recorded more than 17 sacks in a season had played for a different team the following year, and the last sack leader to switch teams was Jared Allen in 2008.

In the wake of the Rams' stunning decision to draft Ty Simpson No. 13 overall in April -- and the confusion over why such a seemingly win-now team would select a player who, ideally, won't play any meaningful snaps until Matthew Stafford retires -- general manager Les Snead faced plenty of criticism, and Sean McVay didn't seem enthused .

But Snead also delivered this quote when explaining why he didn't select a more immediate-impact player:

"I answer that question in saying, I don't want to sit here and it's April and say, 'OK, we draft one player and now we go to the Super Bowl .' There is a lot of hard work that happens between this night and whoever's playing in that game in February."

Well, now more of that hard work has borne fruit. The Rams, who fell just short of a Super Bowl berth with a 31-27 loss to the Seahawks last year, bring back essentially all of their top starters (except, now, Verse) and have also added:

- EDGE Myles Garrett - CB Trent McDuffie (via trade) - CB Jaylen Watson (via free agency)

Here are the grades from Snead's latest win-now blockbuster:

Rams: A

Let's not overthink this: How often does one of the greatest defenders in NFL history become available? Aaron Donald never switched teams. Lawrence Taylor never switched teams. J.J. Watt did, but he had sustained several major injuries, was about to turn 32 and was coming off a five-sack season when the Texans cut bait.

Those are the only players with more Defensive Player of the Year awards than Garrett.

Garrett, 30, it's worth repeating, is coming off the most sacks in a single season in NFL history. He has played in 16 or 17 games in each of the last five seasons. He is an absolute monster play in and play out. His worst Defensive Player of the Year finish over the past four years is fifth.

He has shown absolutely zero signs of slowing down, and his game figures to age well, even once his explosiveness declines -- and who knows when that could be? There's a legitimate possibility Garrett plays at this level for another three years before taking even a minor step back, and a minor step back would still leave him as one of the game's best players.

Is it a lot to trade away? Yes. Is Garrett expensive? Sure. But read the previous paragraphs again. This is an all-time great. It is impossible to put a price tag on that. Plus, unless something goes unforeseeably wrong, those picks should come very late in their respective rounds.

If the only thing standing between the Rams and a ring last year was the Seahawks, it's easy to see why Los Angeles made this trade in conjunction with the McDuffie trade and Watson signing.

In the Rams' final two games against the Seahawks -- one that cost them the NFC's No. 1 seed, the other that ended their season -- they allowed 6.6 and 6.1 yards per play, respectively. The run defense couldn't get it done in the first, and the pass defense got ripped to shreds in the second.

Enter Garrett, who fixes both. He was PFF's No. 1 EDGE in 2025, when he posted the No. 1 pressure grade and No. 3 run-defense grade. Garrett tilts the math in the Rams' favor in so many ways. Last year, Los Angeles ranked 29th in defensive success rate when blitzing. Its cornerbacks couldn't hold up. So the Rams dramatically improved the cornerback room, which was certainly a focus given Jaxon Smith-Njigba's huge games against them. Now, with Garrett, Chris Shula shouldn't need to blitz as often to generate pressure.

(As an aside, the Rams retaining Shula during this hiring cycle shouldn't be overlooked.)

Garrett has made the playoffs twice, with the Browns' ineptitude robbing football fans of seeing him on the biggest stage. But think of recent Super Bowl winners, going back to, fittingly, the Rams with Donald. The Chiefs have had Chris Jones . The 2024 Eagles had stars up and down their defensive line. Same with the 2025 Seahawks.

Garrett is better than any of them (except maybe Donald), but the point is that individual stars like these tilt the biggest games in a way few others can. It's nice to have Verse, a good young player who has had some impressive moments. It's a lot nicer, when you're chasing a championship, to have Garrett for a gotta-have-a-stop play late in a big game. Think of how many  huge plays  Donald and Jones have made.

> Aaron Donald 2 SACK, 4 TKL vs CIN 2021 Super Bowl 56. pic.twitter.com/Kqf9HinODZ https://t.co/icYmT0bU5r — Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) January 27, 2026

Finally, Snead has been both praised and criticized for his "F Them Picks" approach. But he can make moves like this (and the McDuffie trade) because he has drafted -- and dealt -- so well.

- Landed Puka Nacua in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, when the Rams also got starters Steve Avila , Byron Young , Kobie Turner and Warren McClendon . - Selected Verse, who became a key piece of this trade, plus Braden Fiske and Kam Kinchens in 2024. - Swindled a first-round pick out of the Falcons last year to land an extra first in 2026, which provided the ammunition to make the McDuffie trade.

We are talking about a once-in-a-generation player joining a team chasing a Super Bowl. Like I wrote when I declared the Rams  clear Super Bowl favorites  in March, that doesn't mean it will work out. This is the NFL. Bad things happen. Stafford's back has been a major concern. Maybe injuries pile up, or any of the countless other factors don't go their way.

But if the Rams' all-in approach hit a minor bump with the Simpson pick, it is once again full steam ahead at an unprecedented rate. This is the first team to have both the reigning MVP and reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Super Bowl or bust, indeed, and, at long last, Garrett is on a team that can truly win.

The NFL's June 1 rule helped make the Myles Garrett trade happen. More blockbuster moves may follow John Breech

Browns: B-

Here are the quarterbacks who started at least one game during Garrett's time in Cleveland:

- Baker Mayfield - Deshaun Watson - DeShone Kizer - Jacoby Brissett - Joe Flacco - Jameis Winston - Shedeur Sanders - Dillon Gabriel - Dorian Thompson-Robinson - Tyrod Taylor - Case Keenum - P.J. Walker - Kevin Hogan - Nick Mullens - Jeff Driskel - Bailey Zappe

It is an absolute travesty that the Browns could not pair an all-time great defender with a competent offense. In Garrett's nine seasons in Cleveland, the offense finished 31st or 32nd in scoring three times, more often than it finished in the top half of the league (twice).

That is all in the past now, though, and the Browns' haul for Garrett is ... OK. Remember, the Ravens were going to send the Raiders two first-round picks (including No. 14 overall) for Maxx Crosby , who has dealt with more injuries and isn't as good as Garrett. This deal lands Cleveland only one first-round pick, and it will likely come at the bottom of the round.

We can, however, count Verse, 25, as another first-round-caliber asset, and it is crucial we evaluate him fairly. He was the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he is a relentless, powerful player. There are holes in his game, especially when it comes to finishing sacks and other disruptive plays, but he is a very, very good player; don't let his "only" 12 career sacks fool you.

Jared Verse -- last two seasons Rank

Pressures

157

3rd

Quick pressures (sub-2.5 seconds)

83

T-10th

QB hurries

108

2nd

Pressure rate

16.7%

6th

Verse reaching his potential as a disruptor -- we're talking double-digit sacks and Pro Bowl upside -- is critical for Cleveland.

Moreover, the Browns have to make their picks count. It started this year with the top offensive lineman off the board, Spencer Fano (No. 9 overall), as well as wide receivers KC Concepcion (No. 24 overall) and Denzel Boston (No. 39 overall). It will continue into next year, when Cleveland is again slated to have two first-round picks.

Next year is also the quarterback year, and here's where Cleveland actually gets a little boost. It will be a worse team in 2026 without Garrett, even if Verse plays well. But the Browns have done a nice job this offseason laying the foundation for what's to come: a new, much younger, much-improved offensive line, plus two wide receivers and a promising, well-regarded rookie safety.

Without those pieces, this team still managed to win five games despite awful quarterback play. It "only" earned the No. 6 pick, which it later traded down from.

These seven teams are most likely to need a QB in the 2027 NFL Draft -- and the timing may be perfect Carter Bahns

Next year, the Browns must be in prime position to draft a quarterback , and moving Garrett helps that effort. I'm not saying the Browns would be good with Garrett in 2026, but what if they went 7-10 and landed outside the top 10 in next year's class, with no extra early-round picks to help move up? They'd be outside the range to draft a quarterback in a loaded class and would be taking another spin on the quarterback-less merry-go-round to nowhere.

I've made my feelings clear on how abysmal a job Cleveland did building around Garrett. The Watson trade was an unmitigated disaster. Even middle-of-the-road quarterback play could have turned the Browns into a playoff team in multiple seasons. That is all in the past now, and so, too, is Garrett.

Perhaps the Browns could have hung on and hoped Garrett would still be playing well in three years, when this team could maybe have the look of a contender. But that path wasn't the one general manager Andrew Berry deemed preferable.

It's worth noting that when he's had early picks, Berry has done quite well. Now he has several more, and Cleveland's slow build marches on, with the light at the end of the tunnel still 11 months away, in the 2027 draft.

At least it's there, though.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/myles-garrett-trade-grades-rams-browns/)._