The Cleveland Browns are trading Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in a blockbuster trade that has sent shockwaves across the NFL.
The Browns had been adamant that they were not going to trade Garrett, widely considered the most dangerous player in the NFL on the defensive side of the ball. But they will get Jared Verse and a 2027 first-round pick from Los Angeles, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick.
Garrett arrives at a Rams team that is seemingly stopping at nothing to build an all-conquering roster for the coming season, which will end with the Super Bowl being held in LA.
The historic trade almost certainly makes them the favorites to win the Super Bowl in the coming season, with head coach Sean McVay desperate for glory while 38-year-old quarterback Matthew Stafford, last season’s NFL MVP, is still performing at such an elite level.
Garrett has recorded an astonishing 51 sackes over the last three seasons alone, the most of any player in the NFL. Last year, he became the first player to have 12 sacks in six straight seasons and his injury record is flawless, too; he’s missed one game hurt in the last six campaigns.
The Rams had already traded for Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs, an elite cornerback, as well as signing Jaylen Watson on a three-year deal but now Garrett also arrives to form a defense that will send fear across the NFL.
Myles Garrett has been traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams
Garrett, pictured with girlfriend Chloe Kim, is expected to arrive in Los Angeles on Tuesday
Garrett’s arrival at the Rams makes the team favorites to win the Super Bowl this season
Garrett is a seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end but has never won a Super Bowl. Next season’s showpiece game is held at SoFi Stadium and after Monday’s news, anything other than hands on the Vince Lombardi trophy on Valentine’s Day 2026 will be a failure for the Rams.
The organization ignited interest in Garrett, who is heading into his 10th NFL season, when the Browns reworked Garrett’s contract in March, a move that pushed back his options bonuses which, in turn, made it easier to trade him.
According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, the Rams were the leading team throughout the offseason in pursuit of Garrett, even trying to pull of a trade before the draft at the end of April.
But talks heated up after the event in Pittsburgh, as per ESPN, with the Browns demanding that the 25-year-old Verse forms a part of any deal in which they part ways with Garrett.
He is expected to arrive in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Garrett only recently returned to the United States after a vacation in Japan with his girlfriend, the United States Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim.
The trade also sets up one of the most stacked divisions the NFL may have ever seen.
The Rams will compete in the NFC West alongside Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks and fellow title contenders San Francisco 49ers in 2026.
The Rams open the season against the Niners in Melbourne, Australia in September.
Garrett, 30, is one of most feared players on defense in the history of the NFL
The Rams are in a ‘win now’ mode with quarterback Matthew Stafford now 38 years old
For the Browns, the trade gives them two picks in the first round of the coveted 2027 draft as head coach Todd Monken recalibrates his roster ahead of his first season leading the organization.
Monken had said hours before the trade was announced that he had never been guaranteed that Garrett would be with the team in 2026.
The Browns also hired Monken as head coach over the team’s highly-rated defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who then left the team. There are suggestions that his departure helped push Garrett closer to the exit door.
‘Nothing is final at this point, we are in discussions on a potential transaction including him,’ Browns GM Andrew Berry said at practice on Monday.
‘I’ll have a lot more to say on it once it becomes final, if it becomes final.’
