Myles Garrett's Uncertain Status Raises Bigger Questions About the Rams' Blockbuster Trade

When the Los Angeles Rams traded for edge rusher Myles Garrett this offseason, it was thought that he would be the missing piece and help lead the team to the Super Bowl. Garrett was coming off a 2025 season in which he won NFL Defensive Player of the Year and broke the single-season sack record.

Over the past few seasons, the Rams have been rebuilding the defense. After moving on from Leonard Floyd, Bobby Wagner, and Jalen Ramsey, along with Aaron Donald's retirement, the Rams essentially tore the kitchen down to the studs and rebuilt it.

They added some pieces that simply allowed them to get by, such as Ahkello Witherspoon and Darious Williams at cornerback, but they also found strong foundational pieces in players like Kobie Turner and Byron Young. Braden Fiske had proven some value on the defensive line as well. While the Rams still cut some corners, going cheap at linebacker, they had their star centerpiece in Jared Verse. 

This past offseason, the Rams looked to complete the rebuild project on defense. They traded for cornerback Trent McDuffie and signed Jaylen Watson to finish the kitchen cupboards. Everything seemed complete until they arguably got greedy.

Les Snead Couldn't Resist a Luxury Upgrade

They had a perfectly good working fridge in Verse. It had plenty of space to work with and had an ice maker. While it may not have been perfect, it was still a high-quality fridge.

In June, Les Snead took a walk through the fridge section at Home Depot when a salesperson on the floor, let's call him Andrew Berry, caught his attention. Snead didn’t need a new fridge, but if he traded in his old one, he could get the Myles Garrett model with all the bells and whistles for a great price. It was a high-end model with commercial-grade engineering and precision climate control. You could control everything from your phone. This was the piece that would bring the entire kitchen together. 

While everybody was excited for the new fridge, they were also disappointed to see the old one go. Earlier this offseason, Trent McDuffie went on Bussin’ With The Boys and described the vibe in the locker room after the team acquired Garrett. 

“Guys weren't even excited excited, knowing you have Myles Garrett coming,” McDuffie said. “I heard the news, I started smiling. I looked around and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re not like, yeah!’ Everyone was like 'Whoa, hold on. J-Verse? You're going to let him go?'”

Back in August, Byron Young was asked about the trade. “That was unfortunate. It's part of business and it's something that definitely did hit me pretty hard,” said Young. “Building that relationship and friendship with him. That was a brother to me. Still a brother.”

Young wasn’t the only player to voice some disappointment. Braden Fiske also said at the time that his initial reaction was disappointment. That hit pretty hard pretty quick,” said Fiske. “My first instinct isn’t, ‘Oh, s---. We got Myles Garrett.’ My first instinct is like, ‘Oh, s---. We lost Jared. That really sucks.’”

What the Rams Lost Beyond Jared Verse's Production

Verse was the heart of the defense. He certainly had his deficiencies, but his presence and impact on the defense and locker room as a whole couldn’t be measured. The NFL isn’t a Madden video game or fantasy football where trading big-time players doesn’t reverberate through a team. There are real human relationships and connections to consider. 

This isn’t the first time that general manager Les Snead has traded a player. Back in 2021, the Rams traded Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford. With that said, that trade felt different. Most of the team likely understood that they had reached a ceiling with Goff. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t disappointment, but there was at least some understanding that they had hit a ceiling. 

That doesn’t appear to have been the same vibe when the Rams moved on from Verse. Trading away Verse accelerated his development timeline to closer match the Rams' championship window. However, where the argument could be made the Goff was holding the offense back in 2020, that couldn't be said about Verse and the defense.

The core of the defense had been through a lot together.In 2024, they experienced the divisional-round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Last season, they all came up short together in the NFC Championship game. The Rams built that unit through the draft and it was a tight-knit group. 

When the Rams first acquired Garrett, everything appeared to be working great. Everyone seemed pleased with the new fridge in the kitchen. Rams reporter Stu Jackson noted that Garrett looked as fast and explosive as advertised.

“When he's out there, you can just feel his aura,” said McDuffie in training camp.“Everybody likes to say this aura that the guy has. He's gigantic. He's a monster.”

The First Warning Signs With Myles Garrett

As can be the case with many appliances, that’s when the electronics began to malfunction. Back in early August, Garrett missed consecutive practices with what the team described as lower-body soreness that was expanded to swelling in his knee. While the Rams erred on the side of caution, something still wasn’t right. Garrett didn’t practice for much of August and then was estimated as a full participant in the days leading up to Week 1. 

The Rams tested their new fridge for a neighborhood get-together in Week 1with the San Francisco 49ers visiting. Garrett didn’t perform well. For the first time since 2018, he was held without recording a single stat. 

When Sean McVay was asked after the game whether Garrett was feeling 100 percent, he responded, “To my knowledge, ya.” Minutes later, Garrett walked in and said, “No. This was the worst version of myself.”

The Rams did what they should have done weeks prior and sent their new fridge back to the factory to get fixed, placing Garrett on injured reserve. Garrett would be out at least four weeks. 

Myles Garrett's Return Timeline Raises More Questions

While Garrett recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery, reports flooded in on his potential return timeline. To be fair, the Rams never put a timeline on Garrett. However, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on September 27, Garrett was given a six-week timeline. Rapoport reported then that Garrett was determined to beat that timeline. 

On October 4, The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones added more information. Jones noted that the six-week timeline would be a worst-case scenario. The team remained hopeful that Garrett could return in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals, but people inside the building believed that Garrett could return against the Las Vegas Raiders. 

As we know now, Garrett didn’t play against the Cardinals, and McVay already stated on Monday that he would not return to practice this week ahead of the Raiders. ESPN’s Dan Graziano added in a report on Wednesday that Garrett could be out another two or three weeks at least. 

We’ve gone from being hopeful about four weeks and realistic about five, with six weeks being a worst-case scenario and Garrett being determined to beat that timeline, to Garrett potentially missing at least seven or eight games.

The Rams sent their malfunctioning fridge back to the factory, were given a timeline, and that timeline continues to get pushed back. Without Garrett, the Rams have been left with a minifridge that they could have gotten by with for four or five weeks, but half the season has put them in a difficult spot. 

Over the last four weeks, Josaiah Stewart has just a 7.8 percent pressure rate. That ranks 72nd out of 81 qualifying edge rushers. That’s not a knock on Stewart. Coming into the season, he was expected to be the minifridge used to keep drinks cold. Now, he’s one of two edge rushers on the Rams with over 100 snaps and a full-time player. 

After Garrett’s surgery, McVay was asked how it went. “He's like Wolverine, healing fast,” McVay said. However, Garrett is like Wolverine if Wolverine healed very slowly and nobody knew when he’d be good to go again. 

Garrett was on the field before the game against the Cardinals and still had a very large brace on his leg. It’s impossible to speculate, but it’s worth wondering if there was some sort of setback in Garrett’s recovery or if anything happened to push back Garrett’s reported timeline. Recent examples of arthoscopic knee surgeries with Joe Mixon and Robert Quinn would have suggested 2-4 weeks. Brock Bowers had knee surgery earlier this season and missed two games.

At this point, with the Rams at 2-4 and in their current situation with wide receiver Davante Adams out for 6-10 weeks and defensive lineman Kobie Turner also on injured reserve, does he even want to come back this season? 

Two weeks ago, Garrett was seen on the sidelines during the game against the Buffalo Bills after spending previous weeks in a suite, wearing an Air Jordan Jumpman track suit. The only team-issued gear Garrett was wearing was a sideline hat. When Garrett was traded, he seemed excited to play for a Super Bowl contender and be closer to his girlfriend, Chloe Kim, who is based in Los Angeles. 

The initial excitement surrounding the trade has faded as the reality of the Rams’ season has set in. There’s nothing to suggest that Garrett has necessarily lost his desire to play, but this likely isn’t how he envisioned this season unfolding. 

Did the Rams Overlook Something With Myles Garrett?

With the inconsistency in Garrett’s timeline and given that he got hurt before even taking a snap, it’s fair to question if the Browns knew something or if the Rams didn’t do enough due diligence. Simply put, 2.5 months into this saga with Garrett’s knee, something isn’t adding up.

Earlier this offseason, the Baltimore Ravens backed out of a reported trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for edge rusher Maxx Crosby due to a failed physical and concerns with his knee. Crosby has been fine, but it was an example of a team backing out of a blockbuster trade for a pass rusher. 

It’s hard to believe that the Rams wouldn’t have done their due diligence. Prior to trading for Garrett, the Rams backed out of a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for AJ Brown because preliminary medical evaluations raised concerns regarding his knee and injury history. 

With Garrett, he didn’t have much of an injury history. This wasn’t a case similar to Todd Gurley, who tore his ACL multiple times and ended up with an arthritic knee. During Garrett’s final season at Texas A&M, Garrett played through a leg injury. He also sprained his ankle again as a rookie with the Browns. In 2024, Garrett managed pain in his feet, but played through the injury. 

There weren’t any red flags with Garrett. It wasn’t as if he had previously torn an ACL or had a history of meniscus injuries. He hadn’t missed a game since 2020 when he tested positive for COVID-19. In 2019, he missed six games because of an altercation with Mason Rudolph. He’s been very healthy throughout his career. 

It’s not as if Verse is playing well enough in Cleveland for the Rams to completely regret making the trade. However, it is worth mentioning that Verse hasn’t been a great schematic fit in the Browns’ 4-3 defense where he lines up with his hand in the dirt on most plays. At this point, it is worth wondering if the Rams would be in the same position had they kept a player who helped hold the defense together.

There’s no denying that Garrett is one of the most talented defensive players in the NFL. When he finally hits the field, many of the current narratives may disappear. With that said, the Rams traded for Garrett to be the final piece of their rebuilding project.

Given the updated timeline, the Rams may not see Garrett until after their bye week. For the time being, the Rams are left wondering when their expensive new refrigerator, which was supposed to be the missing piece, will be operational. 

At 2-4 and with the season already slipping away, it's becoming increasingly difficult to envision the trade having its intended impact. It's also worth wondering if Snead got bamboozled on the sales floor. The Rams paid a premium for a luxury upgrade, and right now, they're paying the price for it.