Myles Garrett is going to the Los Angeles Rams. The blockbuster trade sent shockwaves throughout the NFL on Monday as the calendar flipped to June, with the Cleveland Browns dealing the reigning Defensive Player of the Year to LA for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick and two Day 2 picks. Obviously, the move is huge for the Rams, and just as much so for the Browns, albeit in a different direction. However, a trade of this magnitude reverberates throughout the NFL, and not just with the two teams involved.
For some teams and players, that means they come out of this trade in a better spot, even while not being involved in the deal. Others, however, are going to be on the wrong end of it. Let's break it all down with the biggest winners and losers from Garrett now joining the Rams, but not before we talk about both sides of the trade actually coming out ahead.
Rams and Browns both come out as winners from the Myles Garrett trade
Not even as a cop-out, this is a win-win trade for the Rams and Browns. Ty Simpson pick aside (no matter how they want to spin that selection with the 13th overall pick), Los Angeles is going for it in a Super Bowl window as Matthew Stafford is in the later stages of his career. Trent McDuffie was a sign of that when they traded a first-round pick to Kansas City for the corner earlier in the offseason, and now Garrett is the next Infinity Stone that they've added. It makes perfect sense, especially with how the Rams have operated under Les Snead.
But for the Browns, it also makes sense. Jared Verse isn't Myles Garrett, but he's also five years younger, still on his rookie contract, and one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. Cleveland isn't competing for anything right now in the current state of the roster, but they have been laying groundwork for the future. This makes that future look even brighter with a younger star pass-rusher and now more draft capital to build with.
Myles Garrett trade winners and losers
Winner: Myles Garrett
For as good as Myles Garrett has been, he was exceedingly rarely rewarded for that with the Browns. Garrett has produced double-digit sacks in every year but his rookie season, is a five-time All-Pro and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and obviously just set the NFL's single-season sack record last year. And yet, he's been in the playoffs twice in his career and has only one career postseason victory that he's been a part of as well.
Cleveland has had a winning record in just two of Garrett's nine seasons, but now the all-world pass rusher is heading to a completely different situation. The Rams were already Super Bowl favorites before they traded for the league's best edge rusher, and that's only further solidified at this point. We've never seen Garrett play for a real contender, only be a bonafide star for a team that's decidedly working in contrast to his on-field contributions. Seeing what that looks like when the script is flipped in Los Angeles should be a world of fun andpat a huge victory for the player himself.
Loser: Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks just won the Super Bowl and now aren't even favored to win their own division. Talk about a tough world. However, the Rams and Seahawks were neck and neck last season in the NFC West, warring until the final moments of the NFC Championship Game. But now, Seattle has lost Klint Kubiak, Kenneth Walker III and some key defensive pieces while the Rams have made tremendous strides and improvements to their roster.
Of course, this is the NFL — anything can happen in this league, and no one is just going to hand the Rams the division or Super Bowl crowns. At the same time, the Seahawks are now going to have expectations of trying to repeat as league champs, and they are the second-best team in their own division on paper. There's no way to paint that, in the initial aftermath, in a positive light.
Winner: Miami Dolphins
On one hand, the only way that the Miami Dolphins are close to that trade is that they, like the Browns, aren't going to be doing much winning in the 2026 season. In fact, the Dolphins are tied with the Browns, Cardinals and Jets for the worst Super Bowl odds at FanDuel Sportsbook. However, that simple fact creates an interesting proposition for the Dolphins in the wake of this trade, especially depending on how newcomer Malik Willis pans out at quarterback.
There's a world where the Dolphins stink but Willis pays dividends immediately, which would then likely take Miami out of contention to take a quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft. If that were to happen, it would give the Fins the opportunity to potentially trade out of their pick to a team that is QB needy and trying to leap ahead of competition — and that could well be the Browns who aim to do that. Put simply, this trade opens more paths to rebuilding for the Dolphins than they previously has.
Winner: Joe Burrow
Not to oversimplify the matter, but not having to face Myles Garrett two times per season is probably something we should calculate as a win. For Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, though, that becomes even more important for this season in particular. It's been a lost last several years in Cincy, no doubt, but the vibes are high coming into the 2026 season with a much-improved defense, Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and a loaded offense.
Removing Garrett from the equation, though, gives the Bengals even more leeway in the AFC North. We know the strength of this offense, but the defense is still a work-in-progress, even with the improvements made. But now, the division looks like it won't offer the same resistance to their high-octane offense. The Browns scare you less now, the Ravens are still reworking their front seven, and the Steelers are aging. That's an advantage for the Bengals, and more so for Burrow than anyone else.
Loser: Eagles, Bears and NFC hopefuls
Much like the Seahawks in the NFC West, teams like the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and so on have to be looking at this trade and thinking What the hell, man? In terms of offseason Super Bowl odds, the Rams were already favorites, but now they're even more so. More importantly, when you look around the rest of the NFC, you don't see any teams who have made the aggressive moves in the same manner that Los Angeles has this offseason.
That doesn't mean the Bears and Eagles couldn't reopen Maxx Crosby trade talks. It doesn't mean that they're guaranteed to be a step behind the Rams. However, it does put them at a starting point where they're looking up before teams even take the field in Week 1. That's not exactly the most ideal position to be sitting in when you were supposed to (or at least hopefully) compete to win the conference this year.
Loser: Shedeur Sanders
While the Browns' offseason quarterback battle is baffling for including Deshaun Watson at all, it's becoming abundantly clear how little the front office in Cleveland believes in Shedeur Sanders. To give Watson that opportunity — much less a leg up — is evidence of that, but for the Browns to trade Garrett and essentially admit that they aren't anywhere close to being a winning roster right now speaks to the notion that they don't believe Sanders is the guy.
Admittedly, that's not a groundbreaking revelation by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is a strong wake-up call to Sanders. Unless he's able to prove something much greater on the field, his time in Cleveland is going to ultimately end up being short-lived, because the Browns are building for a future quite clearly, and it's one that more likely than not won't include him.
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