Takeaways from the blockbuster trade of Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams …
1. I’ve always maintained the Browns should have auctioned off Myles Garrett, a la what the Houston Texans did with Deshaun Watson in 2022, to get multiple teams involved and drive up the trade price. Alas, it appears the Rams were the only team involved and that probably is because they were the only team able and willing to part with a young replacement for Garrett. The 49ers, Bears, Lions and Eagles weren’t. While the No. 1 point of trading Garrett was to acquire assets for a run at a top QB in the 2027 draft, in my opinion, Jared Verse became an essential component of the trade with the Rams. Without Garrett, the Browns’ best defensive ends are home-grown draft picks Alex Wright and Isaiah Maguire. They were short-handed even with Garrett on the roster. They still are shorthanded with Verse in tow.
2. Verse was the 19th overall pick of the 2024 draft, earned that season’s rookie defensive player-of-the-year award, and made the NFC Pro Bowl in both his seasons with the Rams. He is an ascending defensive force, who, at age 25, aligns with Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Tyson Campbell and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren as the new, young foundation of the defense. (With Schwesinger, the Browns now have the last two defensive rookies-of-the-year in their starting lineup.) Verse arrives with salaries left on his rookie contract of $1.075 million in 2026 and $2.176+ million in 2027. Verse, however, will be eligible for a new deal after 2026 and will need to be taken care of with a $50 million-a-year+ new contract prior to 2027. Verse was a popular player with the Rams and is leaving a Super Bowl-contending team, so keeping him happy has to be a priority. Verse was born in Dayton and lived there until middle school, so maybe that will help him digest this career-altering trade.
3. Many thought the Browns needed a “godfather” offer to give up Garrett. I don’t believe this trade qualifies as a “godfather” offer. A case can be made the Browns received more in the trade of Travis Hunter to the Jaguars last year. Now, that was a “godfather” offer. The trade of the 2025 No. 2 overall pick (Hunter) to Jacksonville ultimately netted the Browns Mason Graham, Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson and KC Concepcion. For Garrett, the Browns received Verse, the Rams’ first-round pick in 2027 (which quite possibly could be No. 31 or No. 32 overall), a second-round pick in 2028, and a third-round pick in 2029. Berry had to make this deal, I believe, to collect assets for a run at a top-five QB in 2027. Among those possibilities are Arch Manning of Texas, Dante Moore of Oregon, CJ Carr of Notre Dame, LaNorris Sellers of South Carolina, Darian Mensah of Miami, Julian Sayin of Ohio State, Drew Mestemaker of Oklahoma State and whomever comes out of the blue, a la Fernando Mendoza in 2026. Keep in mind the New York Jets own three No. 1 picks in the 2027 draft and have their eyes on Manning and the Arizona Cardinals have a good chance at an 0-17 season and the No. 1 pick in the draft. But if a few of the other candidates have good final college seasons – unlike the 2026 QB draft class – Berry must be able to use the assets of the Garrett trade to move up to a spot in which he can select a future franchise QB. Simply using the assets of the Garrett trade to select multiple players – as he did with the Hunter trade – seems unlikely.
4. Brendan Sorsby would have added to the 2027 QB draft class had he not been declared ineligible following alarming revelations of betting on college games during his years at Indiana University and University of Cincinnati and his admission of a gambling addiction. Sorsby seems headed to the NFL via a supplemental draft. But if bidding on Sorsby appeared a possibility as a shortcut avenue to finding the next Browns franchise QB hopeful, Todd Monken poured a bucket of cold water on the idea on Monday. At the Browns’ charity golf outing at Firestone CC, I asked Monken – before news of the Garrett trade came out — if he’s been kept abreast of the Browns’ evaluation of Sorsby in relation to considering him in the supplemental draft. “I don’t think we’re in a position to want to go down that road,” Monken said. “That’s my opinion. That’s not Andrew’s, and I like the quarterbacks that we have. I think that’s a slippery slope when you go down that, irrespective of talent. In terms of the situation he’s put himself in, we all know what that is. He put himself in that situation. And we’ve seen in other sports with players that have been banned for life from playing professional sports. I think that’s a slippery slope to go down that road. Again, that’s a question for Andrew. And for management. From my end, it’s kind of tough.”
5. There’s already been a report that Garrett did not repeat his request for a trade this year. I’m not buying that. Garrett has ghosted the Browns since they bypassed defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for the head coach job and essentially blocked him from working in the NFL this season. Garrett never met Monken or new coordinator Mike Rutenberg since they came aboard in February. Prior to news of the Garrett trade, I asked Monken if he had received any assurance that Garrett would come to the mandatory minicamp beginning June 9. He replied, “I wasn’t assured that when I took the job. I was never assured of anything when I took the job other than once I signed my contract and whatever my contract said, that’s what I was assured.” That was a very strange answer because at his introductory press conference on February, Monken was asked about the possibility of losing Schwartz as DC. He indicated the players on the roster were the main attraction. “They’re a big reason why I took this job, the defensive players,” Monken said. “I didn’t take this job because of Jim Schwartz. I have a lot of respect for Jim Schwartz, as I would hope he has for me. … When I was preparing for the Cleveland Browns, I wasn’t trying to chip Jim Schwartz, I was chipping Myles Garrett.” Fortunately for Monken and the Browns, the Rams aren’t on their 2026 schedule.