The Los Angeles Rams have just bolstered their lineup, solidifying their status as Super Bowl contenders with a major acquisition. In a significant shake-up, the Rams have secured reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns, as confirmed by multiple sources to CBS Sports.
In exchange for Garrett, the Browns will receive former Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse, along with a first-round pick in 2027, a second-round pick in 2028, and a third-round pick in 2029. This strategic move unfolded on June 1, a key date for NFL financial maneuvering. Garrett, who set an NFL record with 23 sacks last season, had earlier agreed to restructure his contract, moving option bonus payments into late summer. This adjustment allows the Browns to distribute his $41.09 million dead cap hit over two years rather than shouldering it all in 2026, thanks to the transaction being completed after 4 p.m. Eastern on June 1.
The trade marks a historic moment in the NFL, as Garrett is fresh off an exemplary season, having clinched the Defensive Player of the Year award for the second time in three years. Over his nine seasons with the Browns, Garrett, a top pick from the 2017 draft, has twice become the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, and his trajectory suggests a future induction into the Hall of Fame.
With Garrett’s addition, the Rams now appear to be a powerhouse on paper, continuing an active offseason for the team led by Sean McVay, who guided them to a runner-up finish in the NFC.
Prior to free agency, the Rams made a splash by trading first-, third-, fifth-, and sixth-round picks to the Kansas City Chiefs for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. They subsequently secured McDuffie with an extension, making him the highest-paid cornerback in the league. Additionally, they used another 2026 first-round selection to draft Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, a strategic move aimed at ensuring a smooth transition for the franchise’s future quarterback needs.
Ahead of free agency, the Rams traded a first-, third-, fifth- and sixth-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie before signing him on an extension that made him the highest-paid corner in the league. They then used their other 2026 first-rounder to take Alabama QB Ty Simpson, a luxury pick for L.A. that sets up the franchise for what it hopes will be a seamless quarterback transition.
And not to forget the reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford, who less than two weeks ago officially signed his extension worth $55 million in new money. Stafford, 38, essentially continues on a year-to-year deal with the team.
All this comes as the franchise is set to host Super Bowl LXI in February at SoFi Stadium. The Rams won Super Bowl LVI in their building following the 2021 season, and now they have a game wrecker in Garrett added to their arsenal for this title run.
What it means for the Browns
Cleveland is trading away one of the franchise’s all-time greats, who is arguably the most impactful non-quarterback in the league today. But before getting into what Cleveland is missing, let’s look at what the Browns are adding.
Verse was the 19th pick in the 2024 draft and easily won the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award that season with the Rams. Though he has just 12 sacks through two seasons, Verse ranks fifth among all players in quarterback pressures since 2024 with 143, trailing only Garrett, Danielle Hunter, Micah Parsons and Josh Hines-Allen in that category according to Next Gen Stats.
While Garrett’s deal averages $40 million per year, Verse has a cap hit of just $4.1 million this season thanks to his rookie contract. He is not extension-eligible until after this year at the earliest. There is significant cash and cap savings in sending away one of the best players in the sport, but the Browns are getting a promising replacement who is five years younger.
Along with Verse, there are three picks, including a first-round selection next year, which can now help the team potentially secure a franchise quarterback in 2027. Browns GM Andrew Berry has done well in the draft each of the past two years, earning early praise for this year’s class while taking the top defensive rookie last year in Carson Schwesinger, along with Mason Graham, Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr.
The haul for Garrett is substantial, and it must be. In a trade not involving Garrett, a player of Verse’s caliber, age and contract would likely yield a first-round pick and then some. The combination of Verse plus the picks can reasonably add up to at least three first-rounders. When the Raiders traded Khalil Mack 18 months after he was named the league’s top defensive player, they received two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick, while sending a second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick.
Just last year, the Packers sent two first-rounders and then-29-year-old Kenny Clark to Dallas to acquire Micah Parsons and then make him the highest-paid player in the league.
But it is impossible to construe the 2026 Cleveland Browns being better without Garrett than with him, and losing him is a significant blow for the team’s prospects this upcoming season, regardless of the return. The Browns have a quarterback battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders that may yield a winner later this month under new head coach Todd Monken.
The Browns have won just eight games since going to the playoffs in the 2023 season. After a putrid 3-14 season in 2024, Garrett demanded a trade out of Cleveland during Super Bowl week. That ended when he signed a record four-year, $160 million deal the following month, and he delivered with 23 sacks in 2025 to set a new record.
Then came March, when the Browns adjusted Garrett’s contract to pay his option bonuses just a week before the start of the regular season, rather than 15 days after the new league year. Garrett’s pay did not change a cent, but it did make trading Garrett at this point in the calendar far more digestible for the Browns. The contract tweak lowered what would have otherwise been a $64.5 million dead cap hit in 2026 by dealing Garrett. Now that it’s past June 1, the $40 million dead cap hit can be spread over this year and next.
Behind the scenes, at the time, the Browns were adamant they were not trading Garrett. When Berry spoke at the league meetings in late March, he took it a step further.
“Myles is a career Brown,” Berry said then. “He is one of the faces of our organization. I think we’ve been very clear both past and present in terms of our goals.”
The Browns are now going back on that. The five-time first-team All-Pro who has had double-digit sacks in every season since his second year could retire now and be in the Hall of Fame within five to seven years. But as he stated in his 2025 trade request, his “goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”
There is little question he will get that chance starting right away.
What it means for the Rams
Eff them picks, right? Rams GM Les Snead famously went seven years without taking a player in the first round of the draft thanks to this philosophy. That strategy ultimately netted him veterans like Stafford, Brandin Cooks and Jalen Ramsey.
But Snead broke his streak in 2024 by taking Verse before trading out of the first round in 2025 with a deal with the Falcons that couldn’t be passed up. That draft-day trade last year gave the Rams the ability to make the move for McDuffie ahead of free agency and still have the 13th overall selection in this year’s draft.
And with an aging Stafford, a QB-rich 2027 draft class and the belief they won’t be picking anywhere close to the top of that draft, the Rams took Simpson to lock in their succession plan.
Though the Rams mulled trading for A.J. Brown this offseason, they decided to keep their assets and move forward with veteran receiver Davante Adams and Puka Nacua, who is also due a major-money extension this offseason that will eclipse the $40 million-per-year mark.
L.A. has been able to deal draft picks like this for several reasons. Owner Stan Kroenke has deep pockets to pay guaranteed money to veteran players. Snead is unafraid to send picks for proven blue-chip players. The team’s location makes it a magnet for free agents. And McVay is a force multiplier as a coach.
By 2021, the Rams had already sent two first-round picks to Jacksonville for Ramsey when the team sent two future first-round picks for Stafford. At the trade deadline, Snead dealt a second- and third-round pick to Denver to secure future Hall of Famer Von Miller. Shortly after, he signed Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year deal to go with a young Cooper Kupp. That team would beat the Bengals and secure the franchise’s first Super Bowl since moving back to Los Angeles.
Now Snead has dealt future picks for an All-Pro corner in McDuffie, still has Stafford, has the veteran Adams to go along with the young Nacua and just dealt for a Hall of Fame pass rusher in Garrett as SoFi prepares to host the Super Bowl five years later. Of course, there is no Aaron Donald this time around.
Even at age 30, Garrett has the league’s best get-off, and he now joins Chris Shula’s defense in the most competitive division in football. The Rams play a quarter of their games against the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks and the perennially contending 49ers.
This is the sort of blockbuster that can only be made in Hollywood.
