The Cleveland Browns traded the most dominant EDGE rusher in football, but they got a budding potential superstar back in the Myles Garrett trade.
Garrett, to the surprise of no one, landed No. 1 on the list of NFL’s best EDGE rushers, but Jared Verse was named an honorable mention on the list compiled by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Browns traded Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for a package of Verse and three draft picks, including the Rams’ first-round pick in 2027 on June 1. Garrett, of course, set the single-season NFL record for sacks (23) amid Cleveland’s 5-12 season in 2025.
But Verse, the No. 19 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, had 7.5 sacks and 58 tackles for the Rams a season ago.
Jared Verse Named Honorable Mention on ESPN’s List of Best EDGE Rushers
Browns fans were surely devastated when their worst fears were realized and Garrett was dealt west. But aside from three useful draft picks, they also got a useful player in Verse, who is only getting better.
Verse entered the NFL as the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and posted 66 tackles and 4.5 sacks, despite forcing two fumbles and recovering two as well.
Still, Verse improved, according to an AFC executive that Fowler spoke with.
“I thought he improved in his second year with a better rush plan, sets up moves with better timing,” Fowler wrote.
Myles Garrett Landed No. 1 on the List of Best EDGE Rushers
Even though the trade left fans heartbroken, the Browns got almost everything they could have hoped for from Garrett over his nine-year tenure in Northeast Ohio.
Garrett landed No. 1 on every ballot of the 70-plus scouts, executives and coaches that Fowler spoke with. Each voter referenced had a new and unique compliment to pay the now-former Browns EDGE.
“He’s seen every type of help an offense can give — slide to him, chips from tight ends and running backs, only run plays away from him — and he has a game plan or counter for all of it,” an NFL coordinator said. “From a mental standpoint, it’s really impressive.”
Garrett had nine straight double-digit sack seasons won two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. He led the league in tackles for loss in his final two seasons in Cleveland.
“He doesn’t get enough credit for just how powerful he is and how you feel that up close,” an NFL coordinator said. “Everyone talks about Aaron Donald’s power, but Myles is just as strong.”
As an NFC executive added, “His ability to feel and navigate at the line without much wasted movement is elite.”
But Garrett only won one playoff game, and only dressed in three, in his career in Cleveland. His elite run of 20 sacks over the Browns’ final 11 games, and eight straight games with a sack in 2025, helped him break Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt’s previous record of 22.5 sacks.
“Forty-seven of Garrett’s 125.5 career sacks have come with his team trailing, the third most of any player since individual sacks became official in 1982,” Fowler wrote. “His eight-game streak of at least one sack ties for the third longest all time.”
Browns’ Offseason Trade Acquisition Named Honorable Mention on List Topped by Ex-Cleveland Star