Myles Garrett’s nine-year run with the Cleveland Browns ended Monday when he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for pass rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks, even as the franchise’s quarterback instability and rebuilding cycle continue to shape the team’s
CLEVELAND — Myles Garrett said last March that money would never be the reason he softened his drive. A record-breaking extension promised him $204.8 million over four years with $122.8 million guaranteed. But it also couldn’t fix the one thing Garrett couldn’t accept: Cleveland’s failure to turn talent into a real playoff push.
When he walked out of Browns football for the final time on Monday, the emotion behind that discomfort didn’t disappear. Garrett’s nine seasons ended with a trade to the Los Angeles Rams, less than 15 months after he signed his extension.
Garrett went to Los Angeles for pass rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks. The Browns sent the two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year to the Rams for Verse plus a 2027 first-round pick, a second-round pick in 2028, and a third-round pick in 2029.
The contract details were part of the movement. The Browns said they were able to make the deal after Garrett and the team agreed in March to modify the contract and defer option payments over the 2026-28 seasons. A first payment of around $10 million that was due on March 28 was moved to near the start of the regular season.
Even with the trade, Cleveland will still carry cap hits of $15.53 million this year and $25.56 million next year for the transaction.
The Browns say the timing is tied to a new phase. General manager Andrew Berry said on Monday that the team had no plan to imagine a world where Garrett wasn’t in orange and brown.
“We were sincere in that desire as we entered this offseason and did not envision a world where Myles was not a Cleveland Brown,” Berry said. “However, as we embark on a new era of Browns football with a young core and a replenished asset base, we felt this move was important to our transition.”
That explanation carried an obvious weight: the franchise’s rebuilding mission has been so constant that even a player defined by dominance couldn’t shield it from instability.
Garrett’s frustration was never subtle. He demanded a trade during Super Bowl week last year, then agreed a month later to the extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The honeymoon lasted only until games started turning into the same kind of endings.
After a 23-9 loss at Pittsburgh on Oct. 12 — a game in which the Browns failed to score a touchdown on offense — Garrett said: “To lose the same way every time, it’s frustrating as hell.”
That stretch also showed why Cleveland’s defense leaned on him even when the offense couldn’t break through. Rookie Dillon Gabriel was making his second start at quarterback after replacing veteran Joe Flacco, who had been traded to AFC North rival Cincinnati.
Following the Steelers loss, Garrett produced pressure in a way that kept showing up week after week. He had at least a half-sack in nine straight games. He set a team record with five sacks against New England in Week 8. added four against Baltimore in Week 11. and then recorded three the following week at Las Vegas.
In his final Browns season finale at Cincinnati, Garrett broke the single-season mark of 22 1/2 sacks set by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt during the fourth quarter.
Even as the organization shuffled leadership, Garrett’s stance didn’t change. On Jan. 2. after Kevin Stefanski was fired and the defense pushed for coordinator Jim Schwartz to be promoted. Garrett said: “I’m committed to winning. and as long as the team (and) organization are doing so and they’re committed to that same thing. then I’m all on board. But if we’re thinking anything other than winning — tanking or rebuilding, that’s not me.”.
Schwartz was bypassed when the Browns selected Todd Monken in late January. One week later, Schwartz resigned after three years in Cleveland.
Monken said two weeks ago he had not met Garrett face-to-face since being hired. Defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg said last week he had some phone conversations with Garrett.
The relationship also played out in the day-to-day. Garrett was not seen at the Browns’ facility during offseason workouts, though he visited Cleveland a couple of times during the Cavaliers’ NBA playoff run. He also has a minority stake in the Cavaliers.
Garrett leaves behind a résumé that should have ended differently in Cleveland. He was the Browns’ first overall pick in 2017, part of the NFL’s second 0-16 team his rookie year, and he endured the first of five double-digit losing seasons.
The high point came during his fourth year in 2020. when he helped Cleveland win its first playoff game since the 1994 season by defeating Pittsburgh 48-37 in an AFC wild-card matchup. The Browns returned to the playoffs again in 2023. losing to Houston in the first round. but they went 8-26 over the past two seasons.
Since 2017, the Browns have compiled the league’s sixth-worst record at 58-90-1.
Garrett, meanwhile, kept making history. The 30-year-old — a five-time All-Pro — is the first player in NFL history with at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons (2020-25) and the only player with double-digit sacks each of the past eight years. His 125 1/2 career sacks are tied for 20th on the league list.
The Browns’ turnover has been brutal at the quarterback position. Since 1999 return, Cleveland has had 42 quarterbacks make at least one start, including 15 the past nine seasons.
Owner Jim Haslam said last year the Browns “took a big swing and miss” when they sent three first-round picks to Houston for Deshaun Watson in 2022 and then signed him to a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal that remains the worst in NFL history.
Watson is also the looming reminder of how long the rebuilding cycle can stretch. The player Cleveland traded for is favored to start Week 1 at Jacksonville. Watson has not played since Week 7 of the 2024 season after two Achilles tendon injuries. and his Cleveland numbers stand at 9-10 with 19 touchdowns. 12 interceptions. and an 80.7 passer rating.
The coaching carousel has matched the quarterback churn. Monken is the seventh coach hired by the Haslams since they bought the franchise in 2012. Cleveland has had just four winning seasons since returning to the NFL in 1999.
It’s the same tension carried into this trade: the Browns didn’t get a clean reset so much as they moved one of the last constants. Garrett’s trade did not bring three first-round picks back to Cleveland as part of the same kind of blockbuster it sent to Houston for Watson. but it did add Verse as a young pass rusher. Besides the 2027 first-rounder, the Browns received a second-round pick in 2028 and a third-round pick in 2029.
Verse’s arrival continues a defensive reputation line in Cleveland. The acquisition gives the Browns the past two AP Defensive Rookies of the Year. Carson Schwesinger won last season after leading NFL rookies with 156 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.
Verse, the 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft, had 4 1/2 sacks as a rookie and 7 1/2 sacks last season, along with three forced fumbles.
For Garrett, the destination is a fresh stage. For Cleveland, the question is how many rebuilds it will take before a defense built around him — and now around someone else — finally gets the quarterback stability and offensive punch required to stop the same kind of endings.
Myles Garrett Cleveland Browns Los Angeles Rams Jared Verse Deshaun Watson Todd Monken Jim Schwartz Andrew Berry AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year NFL trade