The war was already on in the NFC West last season. It will now be fully on with Myles Garrett coming to the division.
The Seattle Seahawks saw their biggest competition in the division, and arguably the rest of the league, the Los Angeles Rams, acquire Garrett on Monday. Garrett has won two of the past three Defensive Player of the Year awards.
In 2025, Garrett broke the NFL’s single-season sack record.
“Bombshell: The Browns are finalizing a trade of Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Rams in a shocker, sources tell me,” posted Rapoport on X.
“Cleveland would send Garrett to LA in exchange for star edge Jared Verse, a first-rounder and more.”
Rapoport included NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and ESPN’s Adam Schefter in his post as other sources who heard the same breaking news.
Schefter called the move “the trade of the offseason.”
The trade figures to have major ramifications for the Rams’ future. In the immediate future, though, Los Angeles is an even more dangerous threat to dethrone the Seahawks in the NFC West.
The Seahawks defeated the Rams, 31-27, in the NFC championship game. That was the closest a team came to beating Seattle during the postseason.
In the 2025 regular season, the Seahawks split the series with the Rams. Los Angeles defeated Seattle 21-19 during Week 11.
Rams Acquire Myles Garrett From Cleveland Browns
Schefter reported the Rams agreed to send edge rusher Jared Verse along with three draft picks to Cleveland for Garrett. Those three picks included one first-rounder next year and two Day 2 picks — one in 2028 and another in 2029.
It’s an incredible haul for Cleveland. Verse won the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024 and has earned back-to-back Pro Bowls in his first two seasons.
Last season, he had 7.5 sacks with 58 combined tackles, including 11 for loss and 27 quarterback hits.
But with Garrett, the Rams now have their new Aaron Donald — a defender who could be in the discussion as the greatest of all-time at his position when he’s done playing.
In addition to being a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Garrett has made first-team All-Pro five times and the second team twice. During each of the past eight seasons, he’s registered at least 10 sacks.
In 2025, Garrett set the NFL record with 23 sacks while also leading the league with 33 tackles for loss.
Clearly, the Rams are loading up for 2026 and hoping Garrett tips the scale in their favor.
Rams Favorite to Win NFC West Over Seahawks?
Before the Garrett trade, some pundits already considered the Rams the favorite to win the NFC West. They were aggressive at filling their needs in free agency, which included a trade for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie.
Now with Garrett, the Rams have added All-Pros at the front and back end of their defense this offseason.
The Seahawks took the opposite team-building strategy this spring. While they filled needs in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, the Seahawks made trades down the board to acquire more capital. Seattle also primarily focused on re-signing its own free agents rather than making any external splashes.
In the 2025 standings, the Seahawks finished two games in front of the Rams. But if not for a Seahawks 16-point comeback against the Rams during Week 16, the two teams would have held the same record. In that case, the Rams would have won the tiebreaker and thus the NFC West title.
Then, the Seahawks would have needed to win three road games to make the Super Bowl instead of two home contests.
After beating the Rams in the NFC title game, Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald said the Seahawks home crowd made a big difference in that outcome.
The Seahawks now hope Garrett doesn’t do the same for the Rams this fall.
Seahawks Put on Notice With Rams Making ‘Trade of the Offseason’ for Myles Garrett