Myles Garrett Trade Makes Challenge Infinitely Harder for Packers, Jordan Morgan

The Los Angeles Rams traded for Cleveland Browns superstar Myles Garrett in a blockbuster trade on Monday.

The Green Bay Packers’ new left tackle, Jordan Morgan, could hardly be less thankful.

The Packers will play at the Rams on Thanksgiving Eve. Morgan, the 2024 first-round pick who is stepping into the blindside-protecting role after two years as Green Bay’s utilityman, will have to deal with Garrett in the primetime showdown.

And perhaps more than a few more showdowns down the road.

Garrett is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He set an NFL record with 23 sacks last season and led the league with 33 tackles for losses. He had 6.5 sacks more than the runner-up, the Giants’ Brian Burns, and five more TFLs than the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby (and 11 more than anyone else).

Green Bay’s former left tackle, Rasheed Walker, kept Garrett from completely destroying the game when the teams met in Week 3 of last season, a 13-10 upset win by the Browns. Garrett had a half-sack and six tackles. He added four pressures. Walker was guilty of three penalties in trying to keep Jordan Love on his feet.

“Obviously, he’s one of the best in the game,” Love said before that game. “You’ve always got to know where he’s at, what side he’s lining up on and just be aware and, obviously, try and get as many hands on him as possible. He’s a stud. He’s one of those guys that can wreck a game for an offense. So, definitely always got to know where he’s at.”

Mostly, Garrett lined up on the right side and against the opposing left tackle. Last season, 87 edge rushers played at least 200 pass-rushing snaps. Garrett lined up on the defense’s right side on 83.5 percent of those plays, according to Pro Football Focus. Garrett had 64 of his 84 total pressures on those snaps.

Garrett didn’t single-handedly help the Browns upset the Packers, but his presence was a big reason why Cleveland held Green Bay to 230 yards – its lowest output of the season aside from the Week 18 game at Minnesota. Love was sacked five times and was limited to 149 net passing yards.

“Obviously, going into the game, there was a huge emphasis on not allowing Myles Garrett to wreck the game, in terms of just trying to chip him,” coach Matt LaFleur said the day after the game. “Typically, when we chip, we usually chip and then get out as a checkdown, where we were spending a lot of time on him, and it did not enable some of our checkdowns to get out.”

Super Bowl Mountain Gets Taller

Cleveland Browns defensive ends Myles Garrett and Adin Huntington (98) sack Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

The Rams already were the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. The Rams were +800 last week. Now, at FanDuel Sportsbook, they are +550 – a huge move.

Aside from using their first-round pick on quarterback Ty Simpson even with Matthew Stafford coming off an MVP season and getting a contract extension, the Rams are all-in on winning the Super Bowl.

That’s especially true on defense, where they traded for Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and signed Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson in free agency

Now, a defense that finished 17th in total defense, 10th in points allowed and ninth in opponent passer rating has retooled its secondary and added arguably the best defensive player in the NFL in pursuit of winning a Super Bowl to counteract the NFL’s premier passers.

Love, like most quarterbacks, struggles when pressured. In Week 3 last season, according to PFF, Love was pressured on 14 dropbacks. He was 4-of-9 passing for just 17 yards – a feeble 1.9 yards per dropback.

For the season, Love was one of 33 quarterbacks who were pressured on at least 100 dropbacks. The results were not good. From that group of 33, Love had the fourth-lowest completion percentage at 41.6, tied with rookie Cam Ward and just behind Shedeur Sanders. His 5.0 yards per attempt were the third-worst. He was the only quarterback without a touchdown pass.

To help the Packers finally scale the mountain and get back to the Super Bowl, Love not only has to fight his way through the powerful NFC North but now he must beat the Rams, who reached the NFC Championship Game last year before this year’s offseason makeover.

Los Angeles will host this year’s Super Bowl.

A Micah Parsons-Style Blockbuster

According to reports, the Rams acquired Garrett for young standout Jared Verse, next year’s first-round pick and additional compensation.

Now agreed to and official: The #Browns are trading Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the #Rams for star edge Jared Verse, a 2027 1st-round, a 2028 2nd round, and a 2029 3rd, per me, @AdamSchefter and @TomPelissero.

The offseason's biggest trade is final and real. pic.twitter.com/DHsstnmoSl
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 1, 2026

The Packers, of course, acquired Micah Parsons from the Cowboys last year for two first-round picks and Kenny Clark.

Garrett and Parsons are friends and offseason workout partners.

“Oh, man, they’re heated. They’re heated,” Parsons said of those workouts. “In all my life – and I was at Penn State and I was in a super-competitive environment – but you couldn’t have a bad day,” Parsons said before facing the Browns.

“There was a lot of sh** talking and nonsense going on between me, Will (Anderson), Aiden (Hutchinson) and a couple of other guys from Cleveland, but you couldn’t have a bad day. The stakes were high every day.”

Garrett and Parsons are two of the best in the business. And now, while they won’t be going against each other, obviously, they’ll be two of the star players for two of the NFL’s best teams for years to come.

“It brings the brotherhood tight because when you’re the best,” Parsons said. “If you argued Myles is better, I wouldn’t hesitate to probably say you’re right. But competing and understanding what he’s done for the game of football and how he’s came in and dominated but then also offering fellowship and mentorship, I think that’s what separates the good and the great.

“Just being a big brother, a big friend outside of football, you offering that, I think that just offers just an unbelievable amount of respect when you do that. And you see his work ethic and you see his process and you say, OK, this is why this guy is this good and this great. I think a lot goes into it but, obviously, those factors weigh a lot more.”

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