When the Los Angeles Rams traded for Trent McDuffie, the general reaction was that the team had addressed its biggest need and therefore had the best roster in the NFL. Combined with signing fellow cornerback Jaylen Watson, the Rams were Super Bowl favorites after two offseason additions to the roster. Not a single person said: “But they still need Myles Garrett.”
Cut to a few months later, the Rams’ brass were the first people to say that L.A. still needed Myles Garrett, spending a first-round pick
and two other picks to upgrade Jared Verse at outside linebacker.
Garrett has won Defensive Player of the Year in two of the last three seasons. If you removed four of his career appearances on the first-team All-Pro list, he’d still have as many as McDuffie. However, cornerback was listed as the Rams’ biggest need after 2025, largely because of the additions of McDuffie and Watson complemented an already-talented defensive line.
Garrett is one of the most acclaimed defensive players of the last 25 years. So much so that Aaron Donald is apparently thinking of coming out of retirement.
Nobody asked AD if he wanted to return after the McDuffie trade.
They only asked after the Garrett trade. So if AD returns, then Garrett is five Defensive Player of the Year awards for the price of one trade.
On the other hand, McDuffie is an upgrade at a much weaker position, and his backups are simply the same backups from last season.
So who is more important? You decide:
