The Rams acquired star pass rusher Myles Garrett in a trade the Cleveland Browns on Monday, elevating an already elite roster to yet another level and cementing Los Angeles as Super Bowl favorites.
This column will eventually be about the Los Angeles Rams’ power move Monday to trade for reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and single-season sacks record-setter Myles Garrett.
But first some pertinent prologue …
The reason the Rams’ decision to draft Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson No. 13 overall was so utterly indefensible is that Super Bowl windows — true championship windows — are so rare, finite and ever tenuous.
Los Angeles is in one for at least this year.
With the reigning but aging MVP Matthew Stafford back at quarterback for his age-38 season, stretching out his late prime to the limits. With one of the top wide receivers in football Puka Nacua on the final year of his affordable rookie contract and set to demand his own personal Swiss bank after this season. Ditto for impressive young edge rushers Kobie Turner and Byron Young. Etc.
Building a Super Bowl contender is tough enough — keeping one together for extended years under the NFL salary cap is infinitely tougher.
That’s why any defense of the Rams foolishly wasting the No. 13 pick in this draft on a quarterback they don’t need anytime soon — and may never truly benefit from regardless — comes up well short of logic.
(Stafford subsequently signed an extension through the 2027 season and could well play beyond that. Meanwhile, scouts/analysts seemed torn about Simpson even being a future franchise QB after one season as a college starter that tailed off and underwhelmed notably at the end.)
This entire Los Angeles team, beyond just the QB position, may be in some state of rebuild by the time Stafford actually retires. If not, then the Rams could have done what the Vikings (Kyler Murray) or Dolphins (Malik Willis) or Falcons (Tua Tagovailoa) did this offseason and found at least a high-floor placeholder at the position.
Rams Missed Big Opportunity To Address Biggest Need In The Draft
Not every first-round QB draft stash blossoms into Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes or even Jordan Love. Sometimes the end result of having such a major investment waiting on the depth chart is feeling pressure to turn a playoff-caliber team over to J.J. McCarthy. Just saying — it’s not a savvy forward-thinking move until or unless it ultimately proves to be one.
The Rams had a prime opportunity to help address one of the few weak spots on their entire roster and draft USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, who was such a perfect fit for the team it couldn’t have been a more obvious pick to make.
A Los Angeles-area native who starred down the road at USC and won the Biletnikoff Award as the top pass-catcher in college football, who was by consensus regarded as one of the three top-tier WRs in this draft, who could fit naturally in the slot with Nacua and Davante Adams on the outside forming a treacherous trio for any defense to defend, who filled such a glaring need for a team whose No. 3 WR otherwise is 2024 sixth-round pick Jordan Whittington (who had 18 catches for 171 yards in 17 games last season), with zero notable depth at the position behind Nacua (who can’t seem to stay out of trouble off the field suddenly) and Adams (who is 33 and missed three games due to injury last season).
The only way Rams general manager Les Snead’s legacy can overcome the Simpson pick is either for the QB to prove to be a face-of-the-franchise star for the next decade after Stafford steps away … or for Los Angeles to win it all this year regardless of his blunder.
LA Makes Big Splash With Trade To Acquire Star Edge Rusher Myles Garrett
The Rams were already in Super Bowl-title-or-bust mode before Monday, so we’ll at least give Snead credit for further acknowledging that and smartly pushing the rest of his chips into the middle of the table.
Los Angeles acquired Garrett from the Browns on Monday in exchange for a talented young edge rusher in Jared Verse — the team’s 2024 first-round pick who had 7.5 sacks last season to rank second on the team — along with a 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick and 2029 third-round pick, per ESPN.
We already had the Rams at No. 1 in our early NFL Power Rankings last month, but this trade cements that standing.
(The oddsmakers agree as DraftKings moved the Rams from 8-to-1 to win it all to 13-2 favorites after the trade.)
Los Angeles already boasted the best offense in the league, finishing last season No. 1 in both yards (394.6/game) and scoring (30.5 points per game) with a sturdy offensive line intact and all the key playmakers back in Stafford, Nacua, Adams, running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and tight ends Colby Parkinson and Tyler Higbee.
The Rams also already invested big in upgrading the weak link of their defense, trading a first-round pick (and three other draft picks) to the Chiefs for star cornerback Trent McDuffie while then also poaching Kansas City’s other top corner Jaylen Watson in free agency.
Addition of Garrett Helps Rams Bolster Established Defensive Unit
They return their top six tacklers from last season in linebackers Nate Landman and Omar Speights, safeties Kam Curl and Kamren Kinchens, sack leader Young and nickel/safety Quentin Lake.
The secondary has the potential to be one of the better groups in the NFL, while the trio of Garrett, Young (27.5 sacks in three seasons) and Turner (24 sacks in three seasons) off the edges is as good as it gets.
Garrett is a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time Pro Bowl and seven-time All-Pro selection who set the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks last season and has 125.5 over his nine-year career.
With the chaos the Rams are set to cause in the pass rush and the top-end talent now stacked across the secondary, Los Angeles’ defense is going to be a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.
That becomes ever-more daunting when the Rams offense is piling up points, forcing the opposition to be aggressive to keep pace.
Again, anything less than a Super Bowl title will be a disappointment for this team, which already got to the NFC championship game last year (a narrow 31-27 loss to the eventual-champion Seahawks) and then turned its middle-of-the-pack defense into a potential top-5 unit.
Give Snead and the Rams’ front office all the due credit for making another bold move to maximize their current championship window while it lasts.
Just imagine if they also had a capable third receiver to complete the puzzle …
