Here’s why the Rams are right to push their chips all-in on a Myles Garrett deal — even at the cost of a young star in Jared Verse
You’ll hear a lot about how well the Cleveland Browns made out in the Myles Garrett trade. Hear me out for the Rams’ side of things.
There goes that man again! The Los Angeles Rams have returned to their old ways, which were once their new ways. Les Snead is thumbing his nose at young talent and draft picks. The Rams are pushing their chips all in, putting them in a familiar position. Myles Garrett is their prize in a deal reported this afternoon.
The basis of the compensation package tells you everything you need to know about where the Rams’ minds are at. Los Angeles is betting on a bird in hand versus two in the bush. And while it is easy to see why, it’s the kind of move not everyone can make. But this isn’t Les Snead’s first rodeo and Father Time is as big of an opponent for the Los Angeles Rams in 2026 as the team on the opposite sideline.
The Myles Garrett trade puts the Rams back in line with the rest of their roster timeline
The Rams’ first Super Bowl appearance under Snead was built through the draft. Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp…Then, when the Rams won the Super Bowl in their return trip, it was built through trades and free agency. Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller, and more.
The Rams have been through a lot since then. The team endured a brief teardown on the heels of winning that Super Bowl — they’ve become younger. More draft focused. They finally made a first-round draft choice, too! His name? Jared Verse. Verse played so well in his two seasons in Los Angeles that he ends up as one of the centerpieces of Snead’s pivot BACK to the trade assembly.
I get why the Rams want to skip further development with Verse before he (hopefully) enters the same general stratosphere as Myles Garrett someday. The Rams are sitting on a time bomb in more ways than one. Last year could have been their year. They really ought to do everything they can to make this year their year.
When this season comes to a close, the Rams will be faced with an uncomfortable proposition. All that young talent they’ve successfully allocated from Snead’s pivot back to young talent and rookie draft picks? They need to start paying it. Here are some of the names due new contracts from the Rams in the next year:
- OG Kevin Dodson
- EDGE Byron Young
- WR Puka Nacua
- OG Steve Avila
- DT Kobie Turner
The future is now in Los Angeles
Nacua has a legitimate argument for the highest paid wide receiver in football. Turner is a monster. Guards with less accomplished resumes than Avila have gotten north of $17 million per season on the open market. The math ain’t mathing here — and that’s before you get to the fact that Stafford is in the twilight of his career. No matter what you think of Ty Simpson, the Rams’ future is now before the bottom falls out on all of these player assets.
If you don’t have a quarterback you can win with, you don’t have much of anything. They’ve given themselves a chance to secure an encore. But we all know what they have in Stafford. And we all also know that Stafford won’t be here much longer.
As I said, it’s a time bomb. One that the folks in the Rams’ building appear to be acutely aware of — because you can make a very real argument that a 2027 first, 2028 second, 2029 third, and EDGE Jared Verse will be a better long-term combination of assets come 2028 or 2029. But they won’t be in 2026…and that’s exactly why this trade, from the Rams’ perspective, needed to be made.
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