The debate over who won the Myles Garrett trade has been one of the most talked about topics in the NFL this offseason, and while plenty of voices have weighed in on both sides, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon made a case for why the Los Angeles Rams could end up on the wrong end of this deal when everything is said and done.
“Garrett is on the wrong side of 30 now, and it’s entirely possible the Browns sold at the highest point with a potential peak in 2025. Verse was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024 and made the Pro Bowl as a sophomore. The gap between the two could close considerably in 2026, and Verse likely won’t cost Cleveland much until 2028. Throw in all that lost draft capital and this basically backfires if the Rams don’t win the Super Bowl in the next two or three years,” Gagnon wrote.
Garrett turned 30 this past December, which means the Rams are paying an enormous price for a pass rusher who is entering the back portion of his prime at best. The window for Garrett to deliver a championship return on this investment is narrow.
If Garrett’s 2025 season represented the peak of what he can produce, then Cleveland moved him at exactly the right moment. Getting back a 25 year old back to back Pro Bowler in Verse, who has not even approached his own ceiling yet, while also collecting a first round-pick, a second, and a third is an extraordinary return for a player whose best days may already be behind him.
Verse is on a rookie contract that keeps him affordable through the 2027 season, which means the Browns get his prime years at a fraction of what Garrett was costing them. That financial flexibility allows Cleveland to build around Verse in a way that the Rams simply cannot replicate on their end of this transaction.
The consensus from analysts around the league is pointing in one direction. The Browns made the right move at the right time, and the Rams are the ones who need everything to go perfectly just to break even.
NEXT: Browns Veteran Didn't Wait To Make Jared Verse Feel At Home
