When the Cleveland Browns traded Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in the offseason, plenty of people viewed it as the start of a teardown. The belief was that the 2026 season was going to be an ugly one for the Browns without their star edge rusher.

On the flip side, the Garrett trade was seen as the cherry on top for a Rams team built to make a Super Bowl run. Los Angeles entered the season as the heaviest Super Bowl favorite in the NFL.

Six games into the 2026 season, the two teams couldn’t be on more opposite ends. The Browns are 4-2 and sit at the top of the AFC North. Meanwhile, the Rams are 2-4 and near the bottom of the NFC West.

The Browns’ return in the Myles Garrett trade is looking better by the week

Remember what Cleveland got back in the deal. The Browns landed edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick from Los Angeles.

Coming out of Week 6, the pick the Rams will be sending to Cleveland next April is sitting at 11th overall. There’s a long season to go, and that number is going to change. Still, the Browns holding the 11th pick right now, along with their own pick at 26th overall, is an exciting idea for the franchise.

This Browns team is ahead of schedule. If things keep going south for the Rams, that first-round pick is going to be better than anyone thought it could be when the trade went down.

While Verse hasn’t really gotten going yet in Cleveland, the Browns’ defensive line has still been very good. Cleveland is coming off a Week 6 win over the Baltimore Ravens, and the defense has held up without the face of the franchise for the last several years.

The Rams still have time to turn things around

Of course, Los Angeles could get hot. The Rams have the talent to make the playoffs and go on a run, and you can’t rule anything out six games into a 17-game season. How deep they go in the playoffs, if they get there, will impact where that pick lands.

The Rams also haven’t had Garrett on the field yet through six games. He’s on the injured reserve while rehabbing from an arthroscopic knee surgery. His return would give Los Angeles a boost at some point soon.

However, the schedule ahead isn’t an easy one. The Rams still have games left against the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and Seattle Seahawks. Los Angeles also sees Seattle twice in a three-week span to end the regular season.

There are plenty of winnable games mixed in, and the Rams are going to win their share of them. As of right now, though, it’s looking like this pick is going to be higher than anyone expected.

Cleveland has reason for optimism

Through six weeks, the Browns have to be smiling about how the Garrett trade has worked out to this point. Cleveland is winning games, the defensive line hasn’t fallen off, and the Rams’ slow start has the 2027 first-round pick trending in the right direction.

Combine all of that, and there’s real reason for optimism around the trade for the Browns. The deal looked like a rebuilding move in the offseason. Now, it’s giving Cleveland a chance to add premium talent to a team that’s already ahead of where most expected it to be.

A lot can change over the next 12+ weeks for both franchises. Time will tell where that Rams pick ultimately lands, but the early returns are about as good as the Browns could have hoped for.