Myles Garrett Trade Feels Like Matthew Stafford Deal All Over Again

Back in 2021, the Los Angeles Rams shocked the football world when they traded Jared Goff and draft picks for quarterback Matthew Stafford. In the same way, the Rams shocked the football world when they traded Jared Verse and draft picks for Myles Garrett.

The reasoning behind both trades is similar. While Goff was fine at quarterback, the Rams were in a position to win now. At 26 years old, Goff just wasn’t ready to lead them there. Meanwhile, Stafford had been hidden on a bad roster for over a decade and just needed a better situation around him to succeed. He fit the Rams’ timeline.

Goff was a very good player for the Rams. Before he was traded, Goff ranked fourth in franchise history in passing yards and fifth in touchdown passes. It was never about trading away Jared Goff, but the opportunity to add a player like Stafford.

Similarly, the Rams would have been more than content to build their pass rush around Verse. However, head coach Sean McVay saw first-hand what an elite pass rusher can do during the playoffs when it matters. Myles Garrett has been on a bad Browns team for much of his career and would be better utilized on a good team. With the Rams in the middle of a Super Bowl window, he once again fit their timeline.

Had Verse not been included in the trade, he very easily may have ended his career as one of the franchise’s best pass rushers. He won the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024. It was never about trading away Verse, but the opportunity to add a player like Garrett as the Rams push for a Super Bowl.

In a way, Garrett’s and Stafford’s careers have followed similar paths. For years, Stafford wasted away in Detroit on a team that couldn’t take advantage of his talent. Only twice did his defense rank inside the top 15. When Stafford was with the Lions, he had just 11 100-yard rushers in 15 years. The Lions had a four-year drought without having a 100-yard rusher. Having a good running game significantly takes pressure off of the quarterback.

Much like Stafford, Garrett hasn’t had the benefit of being in a situation that maximizes his talent. It’s very rare for a player on a team with a losing record to win Defensive Player of the Year. The Browns were 5-12 last season and led for an average of 7:10 according to FTN Fantasy. For comparison, the Rams had a lead for an average of 14:48, which is over double.

It’s much easier for a defensive player and pass rusher like Garrett to make impact plays when his team has a lead. Garrett broke the single-season sack record on a team that went 5-12. Garrett has averaged just 27.44 defensive snaps per game with a lead in his career. That ranks outside of the top-75 defensive players with at least 50 career games.

“We can’t even begin to calibrate what his production could look like when his team is a front-runner,” said The Ringer’s Diante Lee. “He’s never had a consistently successful supporting cast around him.”

Throughout his career in Cleveland, he’s played for one top-10 offense. In the last three years, the Browns offense hasn’t ranked higher than 28th in offense DVOA. The best Browns offense was in 2020 when they finished eighth in DVOA and 10th in EPA per play. That’s also the last time that the Browns won a playoff game. The Rams have had a top-10 offense five times under McVay since 2017.

Much like Stafford, the pressure will also be on Garrett to produce. While the quarterback position is judged differently, how Garrett performs will also partially define his legacy. When Garrett requested a trade last February, he wrote, “The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton. It has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”

This is Garrett’s chance to do that. The Rams are Super Bowl favorites at +550. That’s almost twice as good as the next closest team.

For years, Garrett was asked to carry an entire franchise and he displayed loyalty sticking with them through multiple rebuilds. Stafford did the same while in Detroit. However, Garrett now joins one of the best supporting casts that he’s had in his career. He won’t be asked to carry an entire defense because the offense can’t score. Garrett also won’t be the only threat to get to the quarterback as he plays next to Kobie Turner and across from Byron Young.

The Rams defensive line is going to get an insane amount of pressure on the quarterback (obviously)

This is their pressure rate percentile with shrinkage applied in 2025:
•Myles Garrett: 95th %ile
•Kobie Turner: 95th %ile
•Braden Fiske: 90th %ile
•Byron Young: 89th %ile…
— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) June 1, 2026

Now, Garrett has the same opportunity that Stafford had in 2021 with the chance to prove what kind of player he can be while playing for a legitimate contender.

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