Myles Garrett gives the Rams a better shot at winning the Super Bowl, but was he worth the cost?

June 2, 2026 - 18:46

The Los Angeles Rams just pulled off the biggest trade of the offseason, landing superstar defensive end Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. On paper, this move transforms a good defense into a potentially dominant one. Garrett is a generational pass rusher, a Defensive Player of the Year candidate every single season. Pairing him with an already aggressive scheme gives the Rams a legitimate path to shutting down the best quarterbacks in the NFC. For a team that believes its championship window is still open, this feels like the final piece.

But the question is not whether Myles Garrett is better than Jared Verse. He is, clearly. The question is whether the difference between the two is worth everything the Rams just surrendered. Los Angeles gave up a massive haul of draft picks, including multiple first-rounders, to get this done. They also took on Garrett's massive contract, which will eat up a huge chunk of their salary cap for years.

Jared Verse, their current star edge rusher, is younger, cheaper, and already playing at a Pro Bowl level. He is not Garrett, but he is very good and still improving. The Rams essentially bet that the gap between "very good" and "all-time great" is wide enough to justify stripping their future draft capital. If Garrett stays healthy and helps them win a Super Bowl in the next two years, nobody will care about the picks. If he doesn't, or if age catches up quickly, this trade will look like a desperate gamble that mortgaged the next decade for a short window. The talent upgrade is real. The cost is terrifying.