Both the Browns and the Rams are Winners in the Myles Garrett Trade
- Sheehan Planas-Arteaga
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
The rich got richer and the poor, well, they made investments that will pay dividends.
I’m a big proponent of judging a trade right out of the gate. You can’t wait to see how things pan out in order to decide if it was a good trade or not. No front office has a crystal ball, all they can do is judge current value and make decisions based on that. Injuries happen, draft busts happen, football happens. So I’m confident when I say the Myles Garrett trade, one of the NFL’s biggest ever blockbusters surrounding a defensive player, was a win for both the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns.
Well done, boys.
How it Works for the Rams
The Rams swing for the fences. Draft picks? Take ‘em. Play your little lottery tickets, we’ll take the proven commodities. In this case, their newest proven commodity happens to be coming off a season in which he set the single-season sack record, with 23. The Rams are in win-now mode, with an MVP quarterback in Matthew Stafford who likely has one or two more years in him, another future Hall of Famer he likes throwing the ball to in Davante Adams, and a slew of other players who are still good, but not spring chickens in NFL terms. This was the 7th oldest team by average age last season, and will be a little older now after replacing a 25-year-old pass rusher in Jared Verse with a 30-year-old one in Garrett.
When it comes to the Los Angeles Rams, however, it works for them. Their big swings often connect, and this one probably will as well. He is 30 and is at the start of his massive 4-year, $160 million deal, but has shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, he’s improving. Aaron Donald is no longer anchoring the Rams pass rush, but they’ve found a similarly transcendent player in Garrett. Is Jared Verse talented? Does a 1st round pick in 2027, a 2nd round pick in 2028, and a 3rd round pick in 2029 hurt? All yes. But you know what doesn’t hurt? Being the betting Super Bowl favorites, a game which will conveniently be played at SoFi Stadium, where the Rams play.
The Rams go for it, but they’ve earned the right. They know when to push their chips to the center of the table. As for the Browns, their priorities are a little different.
How it Works for the Browns
The Browns will not be good this year, but this trade shortens their rebuild. Jared Verse is not Myles Garrett (duh), but he’s an excellent player who is improving. Plus, you get three extra picks in the top three rounds over the next three seasons. Granted, those picks won’t be very high up due to the high likelihood of the Rams being awesome for the foreseeable future, but a 1st-rounder, a 2nd-rounder, a 3rd-rounder, and a two-time Pro Bowler and former Defensive Rookie of the Year who’s only 25 is quite the haul for any player, even Myles Garrett. This organization is still trying to replenish its young talent pool after wiping their cupboards bare in order to trade for Deshaun Watson in 2022.
The Myles Garrett trade likely won’t make fans in Cleveland happy, but c’mon. What have they had to be happy about recently anyway? Oh yeah…Myles Garrett. I get the incoming frustration, but once the dust has settled, I think any objective observer of the mechanics of this trade will see the sound reasoning Jimmy and Dee Haslam’s front office used to pull it off. You have to run the team with your head, not your heart, if you want to be successful.
Who Won the Myles Garrett Trade?
Probably the Rams due to how much of a game-changer Myles Garrett is and how volatile draft picks can be, but that’s splitting hairs. This is a good trade for two teams heading in the opposite direction. I could easily see Matthew Stafford hoisting his second Lombardi Trophy in 2027, and I could also see the Browns, who had a solid rookie class last season and will only add to it in the years to come, being one of the most exciting teams in football by 2029 or 2030 (okay, I’m squinting pretty hard when I try to see that one, but it’s there).
However it works out for both sides, the Rams and Browns concocted a solid trade. In other news, shortly after the Myles Garrett trade my Miami Dolphins signed a man named Jalen Reagor, who plays wide receiver and hasn't caught a pass in an NFL game since 2024. You could say the rest of the league has been put on notice.
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