The Cleveland Browns dropped a bombshell on the NFL on Monday afternoon, agreeing to a trade that sent Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.
The deal, which according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter involves Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick, is a blockbuster that few saw coming, except in the case of ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo and Zach Frydenlund.
Speaking hours before Schefter’s report of the trade, Frydenlund, who is known to fans as “Football Chopz,” heard rumblings of “real fire and smoke” around the idea of the Browns trading Garrett. A little later, Rizzo chimed back saying the deal had been agreed upon for an extended period of time, making it a real possibility something big was about to happen.
“The Rams are the team I heard is interested, I’m not gonna lie,” Rizzo said on Monday morning. “I just had somebody tell me…if you can believe this…they showed me a text that said ‘The deal has been done for a while.’ It’s speculation running rampant.”
Browns fans missed clues before Myles Garrett was traded to the Rams
While Rizzo said he didn’t know if the Rams were the team that had the framework of a deal for Garrett completed, there’s a good chance that they were the team his source was talking about.
The Rams went 12-5 last year and reached the conference championship game but were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Watching their rival hoist the Lombardi Trophy was one thing that could have triggered Rams general manager Les Snead to make the trade but so was their front office’s philosophy of using draft picks to help acquire elite talent.
In this case, it was a package of both. Garrett is one of the NFL’s top pass rushers, racking up 125.5 sacks during his career and a NFL record 23 sacks last season. A five-time First Team All-Pro selection and a seven-time Pro Bowler, Garrett was a centerpiece of the Browns defense and under contract through the 2030 season.
But with the Browns deep into their latest rebuild under new head coach Todd Monken, Cleveland may have been too far behind to build a contender around Garrett, who will enter his age-31 season next fall.
With that, it made sense for the Browns to pivot. Looking at the known parts of the trade, Cleveland received Jared Verse, who has racked up 12 sacks over his first two seasons, but finished sixth among edge rushers with 80 pressures last year according to Pro Football Focus. He’s also 25 years old and represents a younger pivot.
A first-round pick should also entice Cleveland if Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders don’t seize the QB1 role next year and could help the Browns land a franchise quarterback in the 2027 draft.
Mix in a Rams team with incentive to play the “F— Them Picks” card once again, and it’s probably a move Browns fans should have seen coming. But it’s still a shocking move that has Cleveland reeling and could shake the foundation of the NFL as they enter the 2026 season.
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