Buccaneers score a sneaky win thanks to the Myles Garrett trade and they didn’t even have to do anything to get it
The Buccaneers are one of the other 29 NFL teams that had to have been surprised to see the Browns and Rams work out a Myles Garrett trade. Well, there’s a win in there for the Bucs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with the rest of the NFL, certainly raised eyebrows after the Cleveland Browns sent superstar pass rusher and 2025 Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in a trade that included Jared Verse, a first-round pick in 2027, and other draft capital.
Funny enough, it’s a small win for the Buccaneers and it’s easy to see why.
Buccaneers won’t have to face Myles Garrett after the trade
Look, Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke are ultra-competitors who want to take on the toughest challenges in order to both better themselves and prove their worth.
However, there has to be a slight degree of relief knowing they don’t have to face the monster that is Garrett during the 2026 regular season.
The Buccaneers host the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. In fact, it’s the Bucs’ home-opener, which makes things even sweeter. The chance of an upset loss during the first home game of the season has dropped drastically after the Myles Garrett trade. Mostly because he’s one of the few players that can seriously swing a game enough to where his team wins. That’s how much influence he has.
This is by no means saying the Buccaneers need to disregard the Browns as a serious opponent. This is the NFL, after all. The phrase “any given Sunday”, while cliche at its finest, is still true. I mean, Bucs fans got an up-close taste of that against teams like the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins just last year. It can happen at any point in the season against any opponent.
A slight negative is the fact Garrett now plays on the Rams, so the Buccaneers may have to face them in the postseason. But there are a lot of moving parts before that happens. At least the guarantee of playing him in the regular season is no more.
It’s always intriguing how a singular event can affect multiple teams, both negative and positive, in the NFL. That’s the exact case for the Buccaneers and fortunately for them it’s the former and not the latter.