Still looking for two more points, the Los Angeles Rams believe they’ve found their man in the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
The Rams have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns for perennial quarterback-crusher Myles Garrett. This one cuts both ways, and Seattle Seahawks fans might be a little surprised in what Sean McVay agreed to give up.
It’s next year’s first, a few other lower picks, and – wait what’s that say? They traded Jared Verse as well?
That’s certainly fun.
For anyone who needs it, Garrett will turn 31 in December. No new contract is necessarily expected; he’s in year two of a $40 million extension he signed with the Browns recently. His cap hits for this and the next two seasons are a respectable $23, $27, and $30 million respectively before a $64 million cap hit in 2029. We will put that on the shelf for a moment, as Ty Simpson will be leading the third-place Rams at that point.
For now, it’s a ridiculously high-powered move that will do two significant things:
- Add stress to every offensive line that has to go against the Los Angeles defense
- Keep the Rams at the forefront of Super Bowl favorite conversation for the next four months
The first is what it is, but the second is good the Seattle. Already the forgotten Super Bowl team, we will now get an entire summer and preseason of every major outlet ranking L.A. first again.
Back to the man of the hour, Myles Garrett is a stud. After his rookie season he has never finished with fewer than double-digit sacks. He has 149 career tackles for loss. He’s been first team All-Pro five of the past six seasons.
Abraham Lucas, get ready.
It’s nothing if not entertaining how badly Los Angeles has returned to the “F them picks” mentality of a half-decade ago. Spending a ton of capital on outside corners, only to waste this year’s first on a Stafford replacement and trade away next year’s first, this is quite a spectacle.
It will be a different story facing Garrett on the field two or three times next year. Still, personally, this blow is lessened quite a bit by the departure of Jared Verse. I think he is a really good player. He was particularly effective against Seattle at times. Unquestionably, Garrett is better. But this is an upgrade at the expense of a supremely significant loss as well. It’s splashy, it’s better, but it’s a typical Ram overreaction to me. Verse was no joke, and so it’s simply a better player on the line instead of simple addition to a fierce line.
Interesting stuff. Go ‘Hawks.
