Browns trade Myles Garrett to Rams, reshaping Super Bowl odds

Browns trade – The Cleveland Browns sent reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for edge rusher Jared Verse and three future draft picks, a move that sharply favors Los Angeles’ Super Bowl window while pushing Cleveland deeper into a

Los Angeles didn’t wait for the league’s other big-name dominoes. While much of the NFL world watched for a potential A.J. Brown trade to finally materialize on June 1, the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams pulled off a different blockbuster swap that immediately rewired expectations.

The Browns agreed to trade reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Rams. In return, Cleveland received edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick.

The timing and the targets tell the story: the Rams are signaling they want to capitalize on their current roster’s Super Bowl window, while Cleveland is openly accepting a longer timeline—especially as it digests the lingering damage from an earlier franchise-altering move.

For the Rams, this isn’t the kind of acquisition you make when you’re still debating whether to win now.

Fresh off an NFC championship game appearance and with NFL MVP Matthew Stafford committing to return. Los Angeles has already gone after pieces to tighten its profile. After reshaping its maligned secondary earlier in the offseason—adding former Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson alongside acquiring former All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie—the Rams added Garrett. one of the few defensive players who can force entire game plans to change.

Los Angeles’ pass rush may have been productive even before the trade. The defense ranked eighth in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric and fifth in pressure rate (38%). according to Next Gen Stats. Yet coordinator Chris Shula’s group. despite impressive individual flashes—including Verse. Byron Young. and Kobie Turner—still lacked the consistent dominance that turns pressure into certainty.

Garrett changes that ceiling.

Even when he doesn’t directly “corral the quarterback,” his presence has been enough to push offenses into uncomfortable spots. Last season. he set the tone in a record-setting campaign by doing so 23 times—pressure that became a recurring theme late in the year. Forced to find answers for the defending-champion Seattle Seahawks and to fend off the San Francisco 49ers. the Rams now have a difference-maker who can make opponents consider compromises rather than simply executing their preferred attacks.

The math of the return is also part of why this trade feels so bluntly decisive for both franchises.

Verse arrives as Cleveland’s immediate edge piece, and keeping him could have put Los Angeles’ front into “dream-team” territory. But the Rams selected Ty Simpson in April. and the acquisition also fits with the fact that they are no longer hunting for Matthew Stafford’s successor. That made it easier for the Rams to part with a 2027 first-rounder that will almost assuredly land late in the order.

There’s also the age question, the kind that inevitably follows any blockbuster pass rusher deal.

Giving up a good deal to land a 30-year-old pass rusher might be hard for any contender to stomach. But Garrett isn’t treated like a typical veteran moving into a steep decline. His production—at least based on the expectations set by his track record—doesn’t appear likely to drop off a cliff even if it eventually wanes in later years.

For Cleveland, the trade also isn’t just a swap of talent. It’s a statement about how the Browns have spent the last several years trying to recover.

Garrett has served as the saving grace of a franchise that. for nearly a decade. has struggled to capitalize on his singular level of play. That came into even sharper focus after Garrett requested a trade in February 2025. Cleveland’s response was to hold firm—and to quell the issue with a four-year, $160 million extension.

Now, the Browns are sending him away anyway.

The defense surrounding that decision matters. Cleveland is already reeling from the lingering effects of the ill-fated Deshaun Watson trade. and the move carries risk: sending off the heartbeat of the team. and one of the diminishingly few reasons to tune in. could draw heavy criticism if it doesn’t pan out.

But Andrew Berry’s logic has been shaped by the franchise’s next window.

After three years of limited returns from draft classes that lacked first-rounders due to the Watson deal. Berry finally hit on young standouts in the 2025 class. including Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger and tight end Harold Fannin Jr. The rookies are being pushed toward a role that goes beyond promise: they are expected to help rejuvenate a rudderless offense. with receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston leading the way.

Shedeur Sanders also enters the broader quarterback conversation through the Browns’ own payroll choices. After all, the Browns QB was paid a record $17.7 million by NFLPA.

With Garrett set to turn 31 this December, Cleveland opted to cater its timeline to a young core. The decision isn’t only about the trade itself. It also comes as the Browns faced changes on the defensive side. including losing coordinator Jim Schwartz. a shift that could have driven regression even if Garrett had stayed.

The short-term outlook is difficult, and Cleveland knows it.

Berry understands that a quarterback solution won’t come easily. and even an additional late first-round pick might not be enough to solve the positioning issues in a class where several teams are likely to jockey for top signal-callers. Still. with the Garrett trade. Cleveland is now firmly in the same category as the Arizona Cardinals. New York Jets. and Miami Dolphins as potential landing spots for Arch Manning and Dante Moore.

The obvious question is whether Cleveland got enough.

Few players truly clear the bar of demanding three first-round picks, but an all-time pass rusher surely comes close. The package—while falling short of that top-tier demand—does include Verse, and that matters for how Cleveland can recalibrate. Verse is a proven edge presence the Browns can lean on as they draft and develop elsewhere.

Verse will also require a massive extension in short order, meaning Cleveland isn’t walking away from obligations. But the Browns shouldn’t feel as though they were forced to take a steep discount here.

In the end, this could look like a win-win swap—just not in the same way for both sides.

For Cleveland, “winning” now has a different meaning than it does for Los Angeles. The Browns are trading away their certainty for a longer runway, leaning into cost-controlled upside and the promise that their next wave of draft hits can finally convert into real contention.

Myles Garrett Jared Verse Browns Rams NFL trade 2027 first-round pick 2028 second-round pick 2029 third-round pick Matthew Stafford Super Bowl window Andrew Berry Carson Schwesinger Harold Fannin Jr. KC Concepcion Denzel Boston Arch Manning Dante Moore