The Los Angeles Rams have acquired Myles Garrett, the NFL’s best defensive player, in exchange for Jared Verse and three draft picks. They’re going all-in to win the Super Bowl in their own stadium. Understandable, if expensive. A commentary.

You have to let that sentence sink in for a moment. A reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who just broke the league’s sack record, is switching teams.

For the Rams, this trade is a home run. Even Madden would turn down a trade like this—signing a once-in-a-generation player in his prime. But Los Angeles jumped at the chance. Why hesitate with an opportunity like this?

Here’s a quick recap of the deal: the Cleveland Browns are sending Garrett to California, and in return they’re getting edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick.

A price that 30 other general managers in the league would likely have paid immediately for an exceptional player like Myles Garrett. The man who plays in a league of his own at his position.

Myles Garrett is an exceptional player

How often has one of the best defensive players in NFL history ever been available? Aaron Donald—the Tom Brady of the defense—never changed teams. Legend and pioneer Lawrence Taylor also never changed teams.

Garrett is 30 years old. Not exactly a spring chicken, no. But he’s coming off a season in which he set a new NFL record with 23 sacks and earned his second Defensive Player of the Year award.

What’s remarkable isn’t just his peak performance, but his consistency. Over the past five seasons, Garrett has missed only two games, racking up 83 sacks in 83 games. His worst finish in the DPOY rankings over the past four years was fifth place. According to “PFF,” he is consistently the best edge rusher in the NFL.

Signs of a decline in performance? None whatsoever.

Also interesting: NFL – Cleveland Browns got taken advantage of in the Myles Garrett trade

Myles Garrett completes the tactical puzzle

For the Rams, Garrett is supposed to be the missing piece that kept them from reaching the Super Bowl last year. In their last two matchups against champion Seattle, the Rams allowed 6.6 and 6.1 yards per play.

One of those games cost them the top seed in the NFC playoffs; the other cost them the season. In one game, the run defense faltered; in the other, the pass defense was dismantled. Garrett directly addresses both issues: In 2025, he had the best pressure rate and the third-best rating against the run in the league.

Why the price is justifiable—and even smart—

Of course, Jared Verse’s departure hurts. The 25-year-old was the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year, a tireless, powerful player on a clear upward trajectory. His “mere” twelve sacks so far belie his actual impact. The fact that the Rams wanted to keep him out of the deal until the very end shows how highly they value him. But if you get Myles Garrett in return…?

General Manager Les Snead should be able to handle the three draft picks just fine—especially since he’s had an excellent track record in the draft over the years. His often-mocked motto, “F*** Them Picks,” works because he consistently selects starters from the later rounds of the draft: Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams in the fifth rounds, Kobie Turner and Byron Young in the third rounds, to name a few. The GM secured Quentin Lake and Kam Curl in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively.

And a seemingly contradictory move suddenly makes sense: In April, the Rams selected quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th pick. A player who, for the time being, won’t be playing behind reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. That’s exactly what gave them the freedom not to have to reserve a first-round pick for Stafford’s successor in the coming years.

Snead seems to have been preparing this all-in move for a long time.

Rams: Better to take a risk than lose outright

That is the essence of going all-in: It knows only triumph or regret. I’d rather bet everything on a title run than waste talent for years in obscurity and be forgotten by history. Because in the NFL, if you don’t take risks, you lose before you even start.

That’s exactly why there are windows that open only briefly. The Rams have the reigning MVP, a complete team, and a championship game on their home turf in their sights. To pass up a once-in-a-generation player in this situation would have been the real mistake.

Snead and head coach Sean McVay didn’t gamble. They thought through the logic of their own title window to its conclusion.

That’s why the Garrett trade isn’t just bold. It’s the right move.

All in for the Super Bowl at home

Behind this lies a clear goal: Super Bowl LXI will be held at SoFi Stadium—the Rams’ home field. Los Angeles has already turned the championship game into a home game at its own stadium once before, during the 2021 season, following a blockbuster trade for Stafford.

A blueprint: the same determination, the same stadium.

Only this time with Myles Garrett.