Browns trade Myles Garrett to Rams, get back DE Jared Verse, 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-round draft picks

AKRON — Myles Garrett will make a detour on his way from Cleveland to Canton.It's a long one. About 2,400 miles west.The Browns traded the best defensive player in franchise history and a future Pro Football Hall of Famer to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday.The Browns got back defensive end Jared Verse from the Rams, along with a first-round draft pick in 2027, a second-rounder in 2028 and a third-rounder in 2029. The Browns are scheduled to have 11 draft picks in '27, including two first-rounders.The deal is pending physicals.General manager Andrew Berry made headlines in early 2025 when he responded to Garrett's public trade request by saying he expected Garrett to have a "direct ticket from Cleveland to Canton," the home of the Hall. Berry also referred to Garrett as a "career Brown.""We have long taken the stance that our goal was for Myles Garrett to be a one-helmet player for his entire career," Berry said Monday in a statement released during the Browns Foundation annual golf outing at Firestone Country Club. "After rewriting the record books and representing our organization with excellence, we were sincere in that desire as we entered this offseason and did not envision a world where Myles was not a Cleveland Brown."When the Rams first approached us with the possibility of trading Myles, we remained convicted in our position, but as discussions intensified we were stuck at a legitimate crossroads: Do we hold on to a truly generational player who has become the identity of our team, or do we make the difficult decision that we think is best for the organization over the long run?"Berry said while their emotions were "muddled," the decision became "clear.""We, and more importantly, our fans, have grown up with Myles, and he's an enormous source of pride for our team," he said. "However, as we embark on a new era of Browns football with a young core and a replenished asset base, we felt this move was important to our transition."Things change quickly in the NFL.Even for Garrett, who won his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2025 after setting the league's season sack record with 23.Getting a young edge rusher in return was critical for the Browns as they weighed offers. Verse (6-foot-4, 265 pounds) is 25, was the No. 19 pick in 2024 out of Florida State, was Defensive Rookie of the Year and is a two-time Pro Bowler.He's started 33 of 34 games, totaling 12 sacks, 124 tackles, 22 for loss, 45 quarterbacks hits, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three passes defensed. Last season, he had 7.5 sacks, 58 tackles, 11 for loss, 27 quarterback hits and three forced fumbles and became the fourth-fastest player to reach 150 pressures, doing so in 33 games.He has two years and $5 million left on his rookie contract and will be in line for an extension as early as after the 2026 season."We receive a young, elite player at a premium position who will only continue to improve in his third NFL season," Berry said.Browns GM Andrew Berry says deal isn't done but working to trade Myles Garrett. Will say more when it's final.Didn't answer questions. pic.twitter.com/MrWrCVF7Vm— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) June 1, 2026https://platform.x.com/widgets.jsThe Browns tweaked the language in Garrett's contract earlier in the offseason to give them more financial flexibility to trade him beginning Monday. The change pushed back the option bonus dates annually from March to September. By trading him Monday — June 1 is a significant date in the NFL calendar — the salary cap hit taken by the Browns will be divided, with $15.34 million in 2026 and $25.6 million in 2027. They would've absorbed all $41.1 million this year if the deal had been made before the draft in April.The change in the contract generated trade offers, and the Rams were persistent.Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said they met with Garrett on Saturday and told him they are "extremely grateful for all that he contributed" to the team and community and he "will always be a Cleveland Brown.""Myles Garrett has been the best player on our team and one of the best defensive players in the history of the game, since we drafted him in 2017," the Haslams said. "His legacy is immense and we could never adequately articulate our appreciation for how he played the game and for being the best player he could be for the Cleveland Browns over the last nine years. He has left a deep imprint on our franchise, with our fans and with the Dawg Pound."Clearly this was not an easy decision, particularly with Myles because we've watched him come into our organization and grow like a member of our family. Trading Myles was never our intent, but we also recognize that certain opportunities demand serious consideration, and we believe this is the right move for our team. … Our goal continues to be building a consistently winning franchise that our fans and this region deserve, and we believe this move creates the best path towards that."Garrett, 30, was the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft. He is a five-time first-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler.He asked to be traded after the 2024 season, saying the Browns weren't positioned to contend for the Super Bowl, but Berry was adamant he wouldn't trade him. Garrett eventually agreed that offseason to a four-year, $160 million contract extension that runs through 2030 — a then-NFL record for non-quarterbacks — and included a no-trade clause. He waived the clause to go to the Rams, although a league source told The Chronicle-Telegram that Garrett didn't ask to be dealt this offseason.Garrett's tenure in Cleveland contained a bit of everything, including a ton of dominant football. He leaves Cleveland as the franchise leader with 125.5 sacks, including a team-record five in a game. He played 134 career games and totaled 412 tackles, 23 forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.He's tied for 20th in NFL history in sacks — they became an official stat in 1982 — his 124.5 sacks were the most for a player before turning 30 and he's the only player with at least 14 sacks in five straight seasons and 12 in six straight.The numbers came despite near-constant double and triple teams from the opposition. Teams were determined to limit his impact and changed their game plans, including directing running plays away from him and going with more quick passes. In one memorable instance, the Steelers motioned the tight end to whatever side Garrett chose, including multiple times on the same play before the Steelers were forced to take a timeout.Garrett was also suspended for the final six games in 2019 after ripping off the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and hitting him on the head with it. Garrett said Rudolph called him a racial slur.Garrett rebuilt his image as he continued to improve as a player. He became the captain for NFLWaterboys, a charitable organization that provides clean water to communities here and abroad, and has landed multiple national endorsement deals.His profile will only rise with the move to Los Angeles. The Rams are also a Super Bowl favorite.Garrett has a personality that stands out in the NFL. He's an old soul who listens to a wide range of music, including oldies, writes poetry and loves dinosaurs and Halloween.Garrett had largely been absent from previous voluntary offseason programs during his career and stayed away this year as he traveled the globe with girlfriend Chloe Kim, an Olympic gold medalist snowboarder. New coach Todd Monken said recently he had yet to speak to Garrett, only exchanging texts.Before the news broke Monday, Monken was asked if he had been assured Garrett would report to mandatory minicamp next week or be on the team when the season started."I'm never told who's going to be on the team, who's not going to be on the team," Monken said. "Every day we evaluate the roster. Andrew evaluates the roster, management evaluates the roster. He's no different than the other player we've got."I was never assured of anything when I took the job other than once I signed my contract and whatever my contract said."The organization has been reluctant to call the youthful roster transformation over the last two offseasons a rebuild, with Jimmy Haslam saying recently he expects more wins in 2027 than the five last year. But trading the NFL's top defensive player at a premium position immediately sparked conversation of whether five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward would be next. He hasn't attended the offseason program but said last week at his youth football camp that he's been in communication with the coaches and there's nothing to read into his absence.A source told The Chronicle a trade of Ward isn't expected.The post Browns trade Myles Garrett to Rams, get back DE Jared Verse, 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-round draft picks first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.