Garrett, Brown Trades Draw Praise and Scrutiny From League Insiders
Garrett, Brown Trades Draw Praise and Scrutiny From League Insiders
Two franchise-altering trades executed on the same day reshaped the NFL landscape, with the Los Angeles Rams acquiring edge rusher Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots landing wide receiver A.J. Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams surrendered edge rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks - including a 2027 first-round selection - while the Patriots traded a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick for Brown. Executives and scouts contacted in the aftermath were largely in agreement on who benefited most from each deal, though reservations about Cleveland's timing and New England's price emerged throughout.
Garrett, 30, enters his 10th NFL season as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year - an award he has won twice - and becomes the first player to hold that distinction at the time of a trade, according to sources cited in the reporting. He recorded 23 sacks in 2025, a single-season NFL record, before the Browns moved him despite having signed him to a four-year, $160 million extension that included a full no-trade clause. A longtime scout who evaluated Garrett ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft described him as a "generational" talent who could "up his game even further in a new environment." A front office executive was equally direct about the cost: "Trading for the best defensive player in the league does not come cheap. It's the cost of doing business." The Rams also receive a player in Garrett who gives their defense a pass-rush profile it did not previously possess, multiple sources noted. Verse, 25, ranked sixth in total pressures last season per Pro Football Focus and was a first-round selection in 2024, giving Cleveland a productive young player on a cost-controlled contract as it rebuilds under head coach Todd Monken.
The criticism directed at Cleveland centers on sequence rather than outcome. One NFL executive told reporters the Browns resisted dealing Garrett when he first requested a trade the previous offseason, signed him to the extension, and ultimately moved him after a year in which the team finished 5-12. "I don't know what they got out of keeping him," the executive said. "They knew they didn't have a quarterback. They needed the assets more." The same executive questioned whether the delay cost the organization a year of rebuilding progress, adding: "You can't run a franchise by starting over every year." A second executive was more pointed in his assessment of the organization's pattern: "That's the Browns. They had a plan. They gave it a whole year. Now they're starting over. It's what they do."
The Brown acquisition drew a more mixed reaction, with one league source describing it as a surprise that the Eagles - widely expected to trade Brown and publicly linked to the Patriots for months - still secured a first-round pick in the negotiations. Brown, who turns 29 this year, posted 1,003 receiving yards in 2025 and has surpassed 1,000 yards in six of his first seasons in the league, accomplishing those numbers while sharing targets with wide receiver DeVonta Smith and while managing injuries. An assistant general manager called Brown "the classic change-of-scenery guy," arguing his production will rise now that he is the unambiguous focal point of an offense. New England head coach Mike Vrabel previously coached Brown during their shared tenure in Tennessee, a familiarity the organization is expected to lean on. The source who expressed surprise at the first-round price also noted that reported Rams interest in Brown - a pursuit that could have involved wide receiver Davante Adams - likely strengthened Philadelphia's leverage. Brown will operate alongside third-year quarterback Drake Maye under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Whether the fit proves as straightforward as the Patriots expect remains the central question surrounding a trade that, by any measure, carries meaningful risk at the draft-capital cost paid.
