Cardinals Star Trey McBride 'Shocked' After Rams Trade for Myles Garrett

The Arizona Cardinals' premier weapon appeared on NFL Network and gave his two cents on the blockbuster trade.

Dec 21, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) against the Atlanta Falcons at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ARIZONA — Many in the desert were surprised when news broke of Myles Garrett's arrival to the NFC West.

You can count Arizona Cardinals star tight end Trey McBride as one of those people.

The Los Angeles Rams sent defender Jared Verse and a slew of draft picks to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for one of the game's best players in Garrett, who has been a sure-fire Hall of Fame player for some time now.

The multi-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year will now play against the Cardinals at least twice per season, and McBride will be a piece of the puzzle in terms of trying to stop Garrett.

"I was really shocked. I was really trying to figure out how they're going to get this done, how they were going to [manage] the cap, the salary, all the above. But honestly, the guy's a tremendous player. Jared Verse is also a tremendous player, so it's kind of like one out, one in," McBride told NFL Network this week.

"Myles Garrett's been doing it at a high level for a long time, so I'm excited to go against one of the best in the league, twice a year, every year."

The Rams are officially in "win now" mode after pushing their chips to the middle of the table with Garrett, who just broke the NFC record for sacks in a single season at 23.

For comparison, the Cardinals had 30 as an entire team last season.

"With such an elite edge rusher like that, he's a guy that you have to slow down, you have to chip him, you have to know exactly where he is at all times," McBride continued.

"He's going to be a main focus for us when we play the Rams that week, and hopefully we can slow him down and be able to slow him down as much as we can, so we can get the ball out fast because he's a problem when he gets going."

Arizona plays the Rams in Week 6 and Week 10.

The Cardinals now find themselves even further behind the rest of their NFC West companions, though there is hope with new head coach Mike LaFleur and the potenial his offense carries for 2026 and beyond.

"Everyone is very excited for the new coaching staff. You know, Mike LaFleur's came in and he's gotten everyone dialed in with the new offense. So it's been a huge learning curve for everybody, just trying to get the offense down, trying to learn, trying to figure out what we're going to do," McBride said.

"But I'm excited with the new staff that's here. I'm excited for everyone that's on this team, and I'm just excited to get going and see what we can do this year."