How the Browns Can Actually Win the Myles Garrett Trade
Since returning to the NFL in the 1999 season, the Cleveland Browns have been quite the moribund franchise. They've had exactly four winning seasons in the new millennium, executed the worst trade in sports history in the Deshaun Watson deal, and now, they lost one of the best players of said millennium when they traded edge-rusher Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for edge-rusher Jared Verse and a bevy of draft picks, including a first-rounder in the 2027 draft.
For a lot of Browns fans, this probably seems like another in a long list of catastrophes right now. The team never was able to build enough around Garrett, and it most likely brings back sad memories of the fact that the Browns were also never able to give Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas the talent around him that Thomas so richly deserved. No matter the bounty they received for Garrett, letting a seven-time Pro Bowler, five-time First-team All-Pro, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year (Garrett, by the way, is the first in pro football history to be traded in the offseason after winning that award) walk out the door is going to leave a mark.
Still, there are reasons for this move, and there are ways the Browns can actually come out on top in the end. It's a bit of a stretch, and everything has to break the right way, but it could happen. Here's the string of possibilities.
Jared Verse must become a pass-rushing superstar
The good news for the Browns is that Verse isn't too far off at this point. He's the primary reason that the Rams only had to give up one first-round pick for Garrett's services. A first-rounder himself - he was selected 19th overall in the 2024 draft out of Florida State - Verse has already put up 17 sacks and 189 total pressures (including the postseason) in just two seasons. In 2025, only Will Anderson Jr. of the Houston Texans (102) had more total pressures than Verse's 100, and though Verse's sack total of nine last season didn't overwhelm, he does have the profile to become one of the NFL's better pass-rushers over time.
Like Anderson, he leads with pure power off the snap, and while he isn't as "bendy" around the edge as Garrett or Anderson or a lot of the Tier 1 edge-rushers, Verse's malevolent playing style has paid great dividends already, with more upside to come.
Jared Verse's speed-to-power profile can be as good as any you'll see in the NFL. When he's in phase, it's almost comical how he can fold blockers ass over teakettle, and he can do it from multiple gaps. pic.twitter.com/yJrbru2ZBF
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 1, 2026
Yes, Verse will need to realize every bit of that potential for this trade to be anything but a serious Mistake By the Lake, but there isn't too much projection to imagine it. Also, while Garrett is now 30 years old, Verse won't turn 26 until November 4, and he's got three years left on his rookie deal, if you include the fifth-year option.
The Browns will have some dead cap ramifications as a result of the trade, but they can spread it out over the next two years as a result of the post-June 1 status of the deal, and as Garrett's current contract accelerates in upcoming cap charges, it gives the Browns all kinds of financial flexibility with which to surround Verse with the guys he needs. Verse's cap charges for the next two years are $2,170,850 in 2026 and $2,858,775 in 2027; Garrett's are $9,140,000 in 2026 and $15,856,775 in 2027.
So, if Jared Verse becomes 80% of Myles Garrett over the next two years - which is not out of the question - that's at least a wash, given the numbers.
The extra first-round pick had better pay off
The encouraging thing here is that Browns general manager Andrew Berry and his staff have become quite adept in the draft space. In 2025, Cleveland rookies led the team in passing efficiency (Dillon Gabriel), rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns (Quinshon Judkins), and solo tackles (linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who also won the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award).
The quarterback situation was one in which the kids (Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders) picked up most of the numbers because there was nobody else credible to do it, but both Judkins and Schwesinger look like legitimate tentpole players. The 2026 draft haul looks pretty spicy as well, with Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano, Texas A&M receiver KC Concepcion, Washington receiver Denzel Boston, and Toledo super-safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren as the top four picks. All four have the potential to be immediate contributors, and they come in to add to positions of need.
When we look forward to the 2027 draft class, it's easy enough to project that the Browns would be able to swing their two first-rounders to trade up and grab a quarterback in what is allegedly an all-time group (we never really know how these things play out). And if they'd prefer to go after a franchise quarterback in free agency, they'll probably have the cap space to do that instead. If that's the case, adding two non-quarterbacks in the first round with Berry's recent record of success could be a very spicy meatball.
It's time to build the entire team
The 2025 Browns had the best defensive player in football, and they finished with a 5-12 record. That is an untenable situation that cannot continue, and given the mistakes of the past, it's better for a franchise to realize that it's in the throes of a rebuild, as hamstrung as that process has been by the comically awful constraints of the Watson contract. The handcuffs at least start to come off in 2027, and in the meantime, the Browns have enough flexibility to build a winner over time with what they have, and what they can get.
Giving Myles Garrett to the Browns with the first overall pick in the 2017 draft was a bit like watching a rebellious teenager try and navigate the controls of a space shuttle. Nobody in the organization was ready for that awesome reasonability. All the Browns can do now is to take their medicine, keep looking intelligently to the future, and do everything they can to ensure that Jared Verse becomes the player his potential indicates.
Andrew Berry on Myles Garrett: "Do we hold on to a truly generational player who has become the identity of our team, or…make the difficult decision that we think is best for the organization over the long run?
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) June 1, 2026
"The decision became clear, although our emotions were muddled." pic.twitter.com/RvoapUNeIW
If that all works out, as contrarian as it sounds to assess a trade of one of the best players in franchise history as a "win," that's exactly what the Myles Garrett deal could be.
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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 3:27 PM.