Rams Acquire Myles Garrett.

[Michael K.]

So, Garrett only beat up on bad teams. I'm sure the fact that he played on a bad team had no impact on how the other team treated him. Anyone down playing the fucking Defensive Player of the year, and arguably the best defensive player since Aaron Donald is crazy. We all saw what Darnold did to Pete Carroll. I'm thrilled our O Line is better, and that we are a better team than when Carroll and Russ pissed down their legs during warmups against the Rams and Darnold. But pretending this won't make next year's Rams team better is just flat out fucking dumb.

[D-train]

So, Garrett only beat up on bad teams. I'm sure the fact that he played on a bad team had no impact on how the other team treated him. Anyone down playing the fucking Defensive Player of the year, and arguably the best defensive player since Aaron Donald is crazy. We all saw what Darnold did to Pete Carroll. I'm thrilled our O Line is better, and that we are a better team than when Carroll and Russ pissed down their legs during warmups against the Rams and Darnold. But pretending this won't make next year's Rams team better is just flat out fucking dumb.

Who in the Fuck is pretending this won't make them better? I'm just not going to cry like a Bitch about it on June 1st.

[Michael K.]

So, Garrett only beat up on bad teams. I'm sure the fact that he played on a bad team had no impact on how the other team treated him. Anyone down playing the fucking Defensive Player of the year, and arguably the best defensive player since Aaron Donald is crazy. We all saw what Darnold did to Pete Carroll. I'm thrilled our O Line is better, and that we are a better team than when Carroll and Russ pissed down their legs during warmups against the Rams and Darnold. But pretending this won't make next year's Rams team better is just flat out fucking dumb.

Who in the Fuck is pretending this won't make them better? I'm just not going to cry like a Bitch about it on June 1st.

Who's crying like a bitch? Pointing out he is only a few points different in PFF than Verse and that he got the majority of his sacks in this game or that game? Seems to me like pretending he is not going to be a big impact on their defense...far more than I see anyone crying like a Bitch.

Fuck, homers like Brock and Salk said this morning the Rams probably have the best roster in the NFL right now. That doesn't win them any rings, but I don't give a shit who he got the majority of his sacks against, what his PFF ranking was comparison to Verse or anything besides what my eyes tell me when I watch that man play football. The Dude is the best defender in the game.

I haven't read anything in here or otherwise that makes me believe that Seahawk fans are throwing in the towel now, but this is a big deal. Pretending it's not is crazy. Verse is a good defender, not even on the same planet as Garrett though.

[Michael K.]

Yeah, thats the criticism and it is about going for a SB next season. And it's also what we criticize Dipoto for not doing isn't it? Jerry and his sustainability BS. How many Rams fans you think are pissed off over paying too much for Miles Garrett?

Zero. Just like I don't think the Ranger fans would trade their WS ring....or Dodger fans. The Ram fans will party like MFers if they win the ring next year. And all we'll hear about is how their team went all in, again, and again it paid off. I would have had no problem with us making a similar trade to get Myles Garrett. Zero problems.

We just signed Hall. No one in here would bat an eye if he was involved in a deal like the Rams just made.

[Captain 97]

Hall is in no way comparable to Verse. Verse is a 2 time Pro-bowler, a defensive rookie of the year and has been worth almost twice the Approximate Value as Hall despite playing in 14 fewer games.

The Rams giving up Verse would be more like the Hawks giving up a player of Spoon's quality.

It makes them a better team for sure but I don't think it is nearly as drastic of an improvement as people might think.

I actually heard someone on the radio throwing out the idea of trying to get the Browns to flip Verse to us. He would immediately be the best pass rusher on the Hawks.

[trharder]

I read it. My key takeaway:

So, let LA have the headlines. It’s safe to assume Macdonald an D-train don’t care.

You don't care about what the Rams are up to? Haven't you been laughing your ass off this off season over them drafting Ty Simpson? MM doesn't care about headlines but he better care about them adding Garrett.

Or what?
For MM, this is the OC and the O-line coach's problem. He has faith in them, and JS to give them what they need.
Russ was horrified of Aaron Donald, but had a lot of good games against the Rams when they had him.
MM doesn't play the "chip-on-the-shoulder" card, but the alpha big dogs on the Hawks are going to be
butt hurt at all the attention the Rams are getting, despite them being the SB champs.

[Donn Beach]

I read it. My key takeaway:

You don't care about what the Rams are up to? Haven't you been laughing your ass off this off season over them drafting Ty Simpson? MM doesn't care about headlines but he better care about them adding Garrett.

Or what?
For MM, this is the OC and the O-line coach's problem. He has faith in them, and JS to give them what they need.
Russ was horrified of Aaron Donald, but had a lot of good games against the Rams when they had him.
MM doesn't play the "chip-on-the-shoulder" card, but the alpha big dogs on the Hawks are going to be
butt hurt at all the attention the Rams are getting, despite them being the SB champs.

It's not a chip on their shoulder, it's fucking preparing to face probably the best pass rusher in the league. You could argue the seahawks brought it on themselves by being really fucking good, the Rams responded, they tossed a big chip down, they went all in. It would have been nice to have just sat around without the Rams doing anything but they did. Now the seahawks need to respond. And that's really going to be our new OC, hopefully he's up to it. We've been talking about the improved offensive line, well it's got a bigger challenge now. I doubt he's rationalizing that Garrett isn't really that good and ignoring it. Now the scheming begins. It's nice that they don't have a, run for your life sort of offensive line as in the past

[Donn Beach]

Arron Donald claiming he's thinking of returning, he wants to play with Garrett ... Geez

"Aaron's a guy that I stay really close in touch with and I know the respect that he has for Myles," McVay said. "Talked to him about the opportunity to be able to bring him on board. If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip."

[Donn Beach]

The Seahawks are now fourth terms of winning the SB

According to ESPN Research, the Seahawks were +1000 to win Super Bowl LXI at DraftKings Sportsbook entering Monday. That was tied for the second-shortest odds along with the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills behind the Rams at +800. After the Garrett trade, those odds moved to +600 for the Rams and +1100 for Seattle, which is now behind Baltimore and Buffalo (still at +1000)

[Donn Beach]

Pretty good analysis here. The Browns had claimed Garrett was off the table. The Rams made an offer they couldn't refuse. JS certainly wasn't upping it.

It's funny, joking about winning the SB at their house next season. One might be led to believe they don't want that happening

Rams get: Edge Myles Garrett
Browns get: Edge Jared Verse, 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick, 2029 third-round pick

Rams grade: C-
Browns grade: A

The Super Bowl favorite Rams just dealt for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, coming off a season in which he broke the single-season sack record ... and yet it should be Browns fans celebrating this trade.

It's a mighty acquisition for Los Angeles, but it's a massive return for Cleveland -- more than should have reasonably been expected, even for Garrett. Verse himself is probably worth more than a first-round pick, so the compensation here with no picks from the Browns and three from the Rams is really heavy.


Let's start the conversation with Garrett, because there's no question that his success is truly absurd. He was a first-team All-Pro in five of the past six seasons, recorded at least 12.0 sacks in each of the past six seasons, won Defensive Player of the Year two out of the past three seasons, ranks second to only Micah Parsons in both pass rush win rate and pass rush wins over the past four years, and -- last but not least -- recorded 23.0 sacks in 2025. Garrett is 30 and has not shown any signs of slowing down. But his age is no doubt a negative. Time comes for us all, even superstars. It's just a matter of when.

In 2026, there's no doubt Garrett makes the Rams' defense -- which already upgraded with Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson at cornerback this offseason -- even better. The Rams were true Super Bowl contenders last season and the Super Bowl favorites for 2026 even before the Garrett acquisition. DraftKings Sportsbook made the Rams +800 to win the Super Bowl before the deal and moved the line to +600 afterward. Those few percentage points might feel small, but there are very few non-quarterback moves that can shift Super Bowl lines that much.

Critical to this trade grade is the evaluation of Verse, who might go overlooked in this deal but absolutely should not. Verse -- who won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2025 -- has 12.0 sacks and a 15.3% pass rush win rate at edge (62nd percentile) over his two seasons in the league. That pass rushing undersells his impact, though, because he is one of the best run-stopping edges in the league. In fact, he ranks second in run stop win rate at edge behind only Maxx Crosby in that span.

The contracts are also extremely important here. The Browns and Garrett modified the timing of his option bonus payments earlier this offseason, which means the Rams are going to pay a significant amount to Garrett. He'll make $31.5 million from Los Angeles in 2026 and $41.7 million in 2027. He's slated to make $24.8 million, $40 million and $40 million in 2028, 2029 and 2030, respectively. However, the dip in 2028 means Garrett could feasibly try to re-negotiate at that point.


Verse, meanwhile, is just entering his third pro season. The Browns are acquiring him with two years of inexpensive team control -- plus a fifth-year option -- remaining. He isn't even eligible for an extension yet.

The contrast is significant. While the Rams will pay Garrett $73.2 million over the next two years, Verse will cost $5 million over the same span. Of course, that price is a value for Garrett, and he would absolutely go for more than that on the open market. But in terms of surplus value, the gap for Verse -- between what the free agent market would bear and what he's actually paid -- is larger. And yet, the Rams had to deal serious draft capital along with Verse to make this trade.

For the Browns, it should have been easy to agree to this deal. I criticized Cleveland a year ago for not trading Garrett, and I still think that was correct (the Browns went nowhere despite Garrett breaking the sacks record). But what I didn't imagine was that they could still manage anywhere near this kind of return while also offloading this much of the money.

The Browns are not contenders in 2026 and are probably a stretch to contend even in 2027. By the time they are prepared to make a run (read: have a quarterback), Garrett would have aged out of superstardom. This shifts his value into what could be their next contending window via Verse and the draft picks. It is worth noting that the 2027 first-round pick from the Rams is likely to be late in the first round.

For the Rams, the appeal of adding Garrett is obvious. The trade increases their chances to win the Super Bowl this season -- and that is rightfully something to pay up for. However, I don't think this is the type of team building that will maximize the Rams' Super Bowl chances over the next several seasons. There is a drop-off from Garrett to Verse, but it's not like Los Angeles is filling a hole here. After just one season in the NFL, Verse ranked at No. 10 in Jeremy Fowler's 2025 survey of coaches, scouts and executives. Add in the massive pay disparity between the two players, and it makes it even harder to justify.

I will also add that this trade makes the Rams selection of Ty Simpson at No. 13 look even more questionable. For a team that is clearly going all-in on 2026, reaching for Simpson instead of adding an immediate contributor is a tough sell. I say that even though Matthew Stafford is an injury risk, but that would make me want a veteran backup for him even more.

The 2026 Rams are better today than they were yesterday. But the cost to the 2027-2030 Rams is too much to justify. And the Browns will reap the benefits.