The Real Reason Cardinals Fans Should Hate the Myles Garrett Trade

This may have screwed the Cardinals in the future.

Oct 26, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) looks on during warm up prior to the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Life is now much harder for the Arizona Cardinals thanks to a new presence in the NFC West — though the ramifications away from the division could now impact future plans next offseason.

Myles Garrett is the newest member of the Los Angeles Rams after the Cleveland Browns sent the defending Defensive Player of the Year to the west coast in exchange for Jared Verse and a number of draft picks, which include a first, second and third-round pick.

Garrett's presence in the division will now require Arizona to see the league's reigning sack leader at least twice per season. While that only pushes the Cardinals further away from the NFC West title in the immediate future, 2027 just opened up for Cleveland — and that's not exactly great for the Cardinals.

It's no secret Arizona is eying next offseason for potential quarterback help. Yes, the team drafted Carson Beck in the third round just two months ago. However, the organization would have to be truly impressed by Beck this season to forego a draft class that's anticipated to be beaming with talent at the quarterback position.

Where this now gets tricky is thanks to the Garrett trade, multiple teams have two or more first-round picks in the 2027 draft. Cleveland owns theirs and now Los Angeles' while the New York Jets have their original along with Indianapolis and the higher of either the Cowboys/Packers picks.

There are now two teams with multiple 1st-round picks in the highly anticipated 2027 NFL Draft:

🏈Jets: 3 — their own, the Colts’ pick, and the higher of the Packers’ and Cowboys’ picks.

🏈Browns: 2 — their own and the Rams’ pick.

Dallas previously had two 1st-round picks, but…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 1, 2026

Both Cleveland and New York are heavily anticipated to also be eying the quarterback class next offseason. As of now, all three of the Browns, Cardinals and Jets are projected to have at least $40 million in cap space next offseason as well according to OverTheCap.

Those three organizations won't be the only ones eying quarterback talent next offseason, either. Though in an arms race for football's most vital position, the Cardinals are shorthanded in terms of capital when compared to the Browns and Jets — who have firepower to move up to essentially any pick they please.

That may seem minute in the moment, though the difference between picking QB1 in the class compared to QB3 is fairly large. You can ask the Cardinals if they would have rather have Fernando Mendoza or Beck this offseason.

For a Cardinals organization desperately needing a franchise quarterback after Kyler Murray's departure, finding one in either Beck or next offseason could drastically sway the future of the organization.

There's plenty of football to be played, and this could all be a moot point. The Cardinals could either wind up with the No. 1 pick themselves or be wildly impressed by Beck during the 2026 season.

Yet just in terms of currently projecting the future, the real blowback from the Garrett trade might not have happened yet.