Record-Setting Extension Still Expected For WR Puka Nacua
As a rookie fifth-rounder out of BYU, Puka Nacua exploded onto the scene in what seemed to be the debut of one the NFL’s next great receivers. Injuries in his sophomore season and a few off-the-field concerns have put a speed bump in Nacua’s path toward a second contract, but according to SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora, a record-setting extension for the Rams wide receiver is seen as a foregone conclusion.
The argument for such an agreement is a simple one. Despite being the 20th wide receiver taken in the 2023 NFL Draft as the last pick of the fifth round, Nacua was the only one to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie, blowing past that mark with 1,486, the fourth-highest total in the league that year. Though Houston’s C.J. Stroud walked away with Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, Nacua was named a second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in his first year of NFL play.
Though a five-game absence early into Year 2 limited him to only 11 games, Nacua’s per game averages had him on track for career highs in receptions and receiving yards. Even with one missed game last year, Nacua delivered on that momentum, setting new career highs with 129 receptions (most in the NFL), 1,715 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns. With a league-leading average of 107.2 yards per game, the only thing that prevented him from leading in catches and yards was that one missed game.
Now a first-team All-Pro, Nacua’s outrageous, consistent production should guarantee that he will follow in the steps of the only receiver to out-gain him last year after Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba signed a four-year, $168.6MM extension that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the league in March. Sometimes, an inability to stay on the field can hurt a player’s chances to land a big contract, but Nacua’s return to excellence after coming back from injury and his continued improvement after the fact have dispelled any notion that injury would factor largely into any contract discussions.
What has been seemingly harming Nacua’s progress towards a new deal is a series of questionable off-field decisions. During the season, Nacua violated team policy by live-streaming in the team’s locker room following a win, prompting some teammates to confront him. A few weeks later, Nacua appeared on a livestream and drew scrutiny for seemingly performing an antisemitic gesture — though he claimed to have no knowledge of its offensive nature — and criticizing league officials, an action that caused the NFL to fine him $25K.
Then, early into the offseason, Nacua was the subject of a civil lawsuit stemming from a claim that he made numerous unprovoked antisemitic statements to a woman before allegedly biting her repeatedly on the shoulder. Nacua denied the allegations but checked himself into a luxury rehabilitation center in Malibu shortly after. Nacua has since returned to normal team activities as a “full participant,” but his off-field decision-making could factor into the terms of his potential future extension.
As Nacua was putting a bow on his 2025 campaign, reports indicated that extending the fourth-year receiver would be a priority for Los Angeles. In the aftermath of the news of his civil lawsuit, though, the team’s focus seemed to shift from extensions to additions.
The Rams may decide there’s something they need to see from Nacua before they can feel comfortable signing him long-term, but however long that takes, La Canfora seems certain it will get done, even if it might require the team to use some contract language that will protect the franchise in the event of any further off-field issues.
The Rams appear to have a generational talent in the building with an opportunity to keep him in LA for a long time. It’s become apparent that that future may come with a certain level of risk outside of the building, but it doesn’t appear that risk will be enough to deter a record-setting deal from occurring.
Myles Garrett Trade Fallout: Rams, Eagles, Carter, Browns, Verse, McCoy
The trade that sent longtime Browns defensive end Myles Garrett to the Super Bowl-hopeful Rams was a long time in the making — two months and four days, to be exact. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, that’s how long it took for negotiations between Rams general manager Les Snead and his Browns counterpart, Andrew Berry, to conclude.
This wasn’t the first time the Rams had sent an offer to Cleveland; it wasn’t even the second. Los Angeles went shopping for pass rushers around the trade deadline in 2022 and, among offers to several other teams, offered two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder for Garrett, though Berry has no interest in trading him at the time. Then, following this past season, Snead called the Browns in late March and upped the offer.
The offer purely comprising of draft capital was not going to be enough, as Cleveland made clear following the draft that Rams defensive end Jared Verse would have to be a part of any trade, but it demonstrated how serious Los Angeles was about getting a deal done.
Over the long course of these negotiations, Berry made sure to keep Garrett in the loop. Per Breer, Garrett wasn’t the only one hearing from Berry. The seventh-year GM reportedly reached out to three well-known personnel executives in other sports. St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti, and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas were trusted for advice and expertise, especially given Bloom and Presti’s trade experience in their respective sports. The trio’s input led to the team’s insistence on getting a player — not just draft picks — in the return-side of the trade.
Before ultimately agreeing to the final terms, Jimmy Haslam and his family hosted Berry and Garrett for one last meeting to reminisce and make sure Garrett was good with how things were concluding. Garrett’s contract included a no-trade clause, so his go-ahead was a crucial part of the deal, and according to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, it was a decision Garrett needed to “sleep on” before finally waiving the no-trade clause.
In the immediate fallout of the trade, some rumors emerged that the Eagles had been a team that expressed interest in trading for Garrett and that defensive tackle Jalen Carter was a potential trade target for Cleveland. Negating that notion, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported this week that Philadelphia “never made a play” for Garrett and that “there’s zero chance they would’ve wanted (Carter) in return.”
The player the Browns did want, Verse, also had some negative feelings about being traded, not towards his new team but in regard to leaving his home of the past two seasons. After the Rams drafted Verse at No. 19 overall in 2024, Verse rewarded them with two Pro Bowl campaigns to go along with his own Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
In his introductory news conference in Cleveland (via Andy Backstrom of Yahoo Sports), Verse told the media, “I loved LA. I loved the coaches, the organization, my teammates, everybody a part of it, the fans — I loved the whole vibe of LA, the Los Angeles Rams, and it was upsetting. I was upset for a good little bit of time.”
The last tidbit of information relayed by Breer pertains to a different trade the team performed in the offseason. Los Angeles traded its second first-round pick in this past year’s draft, the 29th overall pick, to Kansas City in a package of picks that landed them Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie in return. Per Breer, the Rams had interest in Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy at the end of the first round, but when his draft stock plummeted for medical reasons, the team pivoted and made the move for McDuffie. McDuffie and Garrett now stand as two gigantic additions to a team looking to make the most of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford‘s last few good years.
Rams Would Welcome Aaron Donald Unretirement
JUNE 5: The Rams plan to keep the door open for a Donald return well into the season, SportsBoom.com’s Jason La Canfora notes. This could mean an early-season return or a Suh- or Joseph-like midseason reemergence. Although Donald has been away much longer than those two DTs when they joined the Eagles midway through the 2022 season, plenty of smoke has emerged here since the Garrett trade.
JUNE 4: Aaron Donald ended one of the greatest careers in NFL history at age 33, stopping after 10 Rams seasons. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year made a case as the greatest defensive tackle ever during that period, but the Rams have been able to get by defensively without the all-time great.
The Rams have been able to stay afloat defensively due in large part to successful front-seven draft investments. The team hit on Kobie Turner and Byron Young in the 2023 third round and then landed Jared Verse and Braden Fiske in the 2024 draft’s first two rounds. Los Angeles used Verse as the headline asset in the Myles Garrett package, and Donald took notice of another future Hall of Famer joining the Rams’ defense.
Going a whole two seasons without a surefire Hall of Famer on defense, the Rams acquired Garrett and will pair him with the Young-Turner-Fiske trio. Donald, however, created considerable buzz in the wake of the trade by indicating he is considering a return to football. The Rams’ three-year, $95MM Donald — agreed to months after Super Bowl LVI — contract carries one more season, in the event Donald would want to follow Philip Rivers in delaying his Canton clock.
Unlike Rivers, Donald is a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer. He also plays a far more rigorous position. Unsurprisingly, Sean McVay said (via ESPN.com’s Sarah Barshop) the Rams would welcome a Donald return. But the former superstar, who regularly posts workout videos to social media, is far from certain to complete a comeback even with Garrett headlining Chris Shula‘s third defense.
“Aaron’s a guy that I stay really close in touch with and I know the respect that he has for Myles,” McVay said. “Talked to [Donald] about the opportunity to be able to bring [Garrett] on board. If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip.”
Perhaps the only D-lineman whose peak rivals Donald’s this century, J.J. Watt also teased an unretirement earlier this decade. Retiring after the 2022 season, when a heart scare occurred, Watt said he would consider a comeback to join the Texans or Steelers. But the CBS analyst said that window would close after the 2024 season. Donald is further removed from his career than his former peer was when he mentioned the prospect of a comeback, offering another complication.
Rather than rejoining the Rams this summer and going through another training camp, Donald could delay an unretirement for a bit and consider an in-season return. This seems like the more realistic path, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer offers. Mentioning Eric Weddle‘s unretirement in time for the 2021 playoffs — after the Rams had lost multiple safeties — as a potentially notable example (Weddle initially retired after the 2019 season).
The Eagles also signed Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph in mid-November 2022, adding the vets to their D-line after neither had gone through training camp or played in the first half of that season. Both played rotational roles for the NFC champions that year.
Donald playing a rotational role would be rather strange given his abilities pre-retirement. After missing a chunk of the 2022 season due to injury, Donald roared back with a seventh first-team All-Pro season in 2023. He finished that ’23 season with eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss, helping a Rams team that had themed 2023 around cost-cutting moves back to the playoffs.
Los Angeles has Fiske and Turner as locked-in regulars on its D-line. Donald returning would stand to cut into the younger 3-4 ends’ playing time. But a defense rostering Garrett and Donald to go with some rising young talents would obviously be formidable. Beyond a 2022 high ankle sprain, Donald does not have much of an injury history. Prior to 2022, the only two games he missed were due to a 2017 holdout. This may be a storyline to monitor well into the season — or until Donald shuts it down — as the Rams are viewed as early Vegas favorites to win a Super Bowl set to take place at SoFi Stadium.
Rams Rework Myles Garrett’s Contract
Myles Garrett became the rare edge rusher to change teams in a trade involving a first-round pick and not receive an immediate extension. As our most recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece detailed, Garrett is set to be first EDGE to be traded for a future first — excluding pick-for-pick trades — this century and not receive an extension.
We learned following the trade the Rams were not planning an immediate pay bump for the future Hall of Famer, but the sides have agreed to rework the contract the Browns designed last March. The Rams and Garrett agreed on an adjusted deal Thursday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports. While this can be framed as a five-year, $204MM agreement, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes it does not provide a raise or add any years to his Cleveland agreement.
[RELATED: Aaron Donald Mulling Unretirement]
Garrett signed a four-year, $160MM Browns extension nearly 15 months ago. Because two seasons were left on his first Browns extension — a five-year, $125MM pact agreed to in summer 2020 — his current deal runs through 2030.
Garrett set a single-season sack record in 2025, proving he remains probably the game’s premier edge rusher and one of the NFL’s best overall players, and his Browns re-up triggered a sea change on the EDGE market. T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson and Will Anderson Jr. have leapfrogged Garrett’s $40MM-per-year deal in terms of AAV. Anderson moved the bar to $50MM per year in April.
But the Garrett trade was more about a team resetting and cashing in on its top asset to accelerate a rebuild, as opposed to most high-profile trades at this position. Of the seven other 21st-century instances of edge rushers being dealt for packages involving a first-rounder — for Parsons, Bradley Chubb, Frank Clark, Khalil Mack, Jared Allen, John Abraham, Kevin Carter — all involved immediate raises. So did three recent deals involving a second-rounder being swapped for an edge defender (Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Dee Ford). The Rams having an opportunity to acquire Garrett without needing to authorize a top-market extension created even more value for the Browns in this trade, which sent Jared Verse and three draft choices (including a 2027 first-rounder) to Cleveland.
The rework will increase Garrett’s 2026 pay from $31.5MM to $37MM, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds. Like they did with Matthew Stafford in 2024, the Rams are moving money from future years into the current campaign. The Thursday adjustment also moves option bonuses to signing bonuses in some cases, per Fowler.
Garrett’s Browns deal already contained $41.7MM in 2027 guarantees. Today’s agreement, which includes $37MM guaranteed at signing, will reduce Garrett’s 2027 guarantees by $10.7MM but increase the 2028 guarantees by $7.2MM, Florio notes.
By 2027, Garrett will see a total of $62MM in injury guarantees vest, Florio adds. That makes this an appealing package for both team and player, as a two-time Defensive Player of the Year is still attached to the league’s fifth-most-lucrative EDGE AAV and said player will see a mammoth guarantee come his way next year.
This amounts to a three-year deal with two team options, with the Rams keeping Browns terms for the nonguaranteed 2029 and 2030 years; Garrett will be due an $8MM roster bonus in March 2029 and March 2030. The cap numbers will be important to observe on this rework, as the Rams have surely adjusted the contract to help in that regard.
The Rams entered Thursday with $18.29MM in cap space. Although Los Angeles moved off Verse, it has a host of extension-eligible young players. The 2023 draft brought Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Warren McClendon to L.A. Nacua is believed to be the top priority, but the Rams have not executed any extensions for that draft class yet. The team did give Stafford a one-year, $55MM extension. More deals should be expected.
It will be interesting to see if Garrett pushes for a true raise soon. The Rams have shown in the past — via their bumps for Donald and Cooper Kupp in 2022 — they are willing to reward cornerstone players with multiple seasons remaining on contracts. Garrett’s camp forcing the issue in the future would not surprise, but the trove of guaranteed money vesting next year should satisfy the superstar defender for the foreseeable future.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/4/26
Several NFL teams made minor transactions on Thursday. Here’s a look…
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DE Benton Whitley
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE Louie Hansen
- Waived: WR Jalen Walthall
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on IR: OL Chad Lindberg, OLB Eddie Walls
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Michael Briscoe, WR Trayvon Rudolph
- Waived: WR Joaquin Davis
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Gee Scott
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Jamin Davis
- Waived: TE Chamon Metayer
Out of the 11 players listed above, Davis is the only one with a first-round pedigree. Washington took the former Kentucky Wildcat 19th overall in 2021, but his stock has plummeted during his five-year career. As a member of the Commanders for three-plus seasons, he totaled 282 tackles and seven sacks over 50 games (36 starts).
The Commanders experimented with Davis at defensive end in 2024, but it didn’t work out to their liking. They waived Davis in late October that year, and he has since gone to short stints with the Packers, Vikings, Jets and Raiders. The 27-year-old got into two games with the Raiders last season and made three tackles. Davis is now reuniting with Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who held the same position in Las Vegas in 2025.
A.J. Brown Fallout: Roseman, Rams, Hurts
The long-awaited A.J. Brown trade between the Eagles and Patriots finally came together on Monday. Before agreeing to ship out a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder for Brown, the Patriots held out hope the Eagles would accept a package headlined by a second-rounder, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The sides began discussing the 2028 first-rounder about a month ago, Rapoport adds.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was not going to move Brown unless he got a Round 1 selection back, Zach Berman of The Athletic reports.
Speaking with the media on Monday, Roseman said: “I think that when we looked at the totality of the circumstances and having the conversations we had with him, felt like where we were, where we were going, where he was, that if we could find something that kind of achieved our goals of getting a first-round pick going forward here in the near future, getting the money back to spend on other players on our team and other teams, and it was a win-win situation based on where he was and how he felt, we were open to that.”
The first-rounder Roseman received is still two years down the line, but having to wait isn’t a big deal to him.
“We’ve always been in the mindset a pick is a pick — a first-round pick is a first-round pick,” he said. “Doesn’t matter. Teams are still going to be playing football in 2028.”
The Eagles now have two firsts in 2028, which Roseman regards as “a huge, huge part of this move.” Meanwhile, the Patriots have a new No. 1 receiver in Brown, a three-time Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro who is entering his age-29 campaign. Brown will reunite with head coach Mike Vrabel, a key figure earlier in his career in Tennessee. Brown played for Vrabel over his first three seasons.
In a post-trade interview with Maria Taylor on “7PM in Brooklyn,” Brown revealed he thought his “time was up” in Philadelphia after the season. While Brown went over 1,000 yards for the sixth time in his seven-year career, he voiced frustration with the Eagles’ sputtering offense on multiple occasions. Brown admitted he should have gone about things differently in public and on social media, but he noted: “Nothing I said was ever for personal gain. it was to help the team win.”
Philadelphia ran roughshod over the NFL during a 14-win regular season in 2024 and capped off the campaign with a blowout victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. The team took home its second straight NFC East title last year, but it hardly resembled the juggernaut from the previous season. The Eagles went 11-6 and quickly bowed out of the playoffs in a wild-card round loss to the 49ers. Brown believes the defending champion Eagles pressed as a result of the high expectations they placed on themselves. He also revealed he and quarterback Jalen Hurts drifted apart during the season.
“Not as close as we once were,” Brown said. “And I believe that’s fine. There’s no bad blood. There’s actually still a lot of love.”
Brown will now work with a new quarterback in the Patriots’ Drake Maye, though there was a possibility of him joining Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles. The Rams ultimately bowed out of trade talks, leaving New England as the only real suitor for Brown. It turns out the Rams backed out because they “weren’t satisfied by what they saw” in Brown’s medicals, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer said on the “unCovering the Birds” podcast.
Brown has a history of knee issues, but Roseman downplayed that when McLane asked and lauded the receiver’s durability. He missed six of a possible 68 regular-season games with the Eagles, though a few of those absences came as a result of hamstring problems.
When asked about his knee after the trade, Brown responded (via Karen Guregian of MassLive.com): “Maybe in four years I’ve missed one game from a shot to the knee. So, that’s nothing to worry about. I’m ready to go.”
Rams Do Not Plan On Adjusting Myles Garrett’s Contract
As part of this week’s blockbuster Myles Garrett trade, the Rams agreed to take on a contract which was the NFL’s most lucrative non-QB deal when it was signed. No immediate changes to it are forthcoming.
The Rams do not intend to adjust Garrett’s existing contract, Jourdan Rodrigue and Zac Jackson of The Athletic report. The pact – which was agreed to last year and resulted in a trade request being rescinded – runs through 2030. It carries an average annual value of $40MM, a figure which briefly represented the new high point for the EDGE market.
Thanks to the contract tweak which pushed back the payment date for Garrett’s option bonuses, he is owed a total of $31.5MM in guaranteed money from the Rams for 2026. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year also has $41.7MM locked in for 2027. Option bonuses are scheduled throughout the life of the deal, but no salaries are guaranteed from 2028 onwards. It would come as little surprise if a restructure of some kind were to take place, but nothing is currently imminent.
“I will say this for [agent] Nicole [Lynn],” Rams GM Les Snead said when addressing the trade (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). “We wouldn’t have been able to get this done without us working pretty tirelessly since the weekend. We didn’t have a lot of time to discuss contract, but thank you, Nicole.”
Garrett waived his no-trade clause to help facilitate the deal, one which saw fellow Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse and three picks head to Cleveland. A raise would help reflect Garrett’s importance to his new team while also keeping pace with surges in the pass rush market. Since the five-time All-Pro inked his 2025 extension, each of Danielle Hunter, T.J. Watt, Aidan Hutchinson, Micah Parsons and Will Anderson Jr. have signed deals carrying a higher AAV. Anderson’s new Texans contract currently sets the pace at an average of $50MM per year.
Agreeing to terms on a similar pact would of course be challenging for the Rams, given their financial commitments over the short term in particular to a number of expensive veterans. Los Angeles also has a group of key players nearing the end of their rookie contracts who will be due healthy raises in the near future. Maintaining the rest of the defensive front Garrett will now operate as a member of, for instance, will require several big-money commitments.
For now, at least, Garrett’s attention will be aimed at acclimating to a new team for the first time in his decorated career. It will be interesting to see when talks on a restructure or extension commence and whether or not an agreement can be reached.
Browns Trade Myles Garrett To Rams
JUNE 3: The third-rounder in 2029 is conditional, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. It will turn into a first-rounder if the Rams trade Garrett to a team in the Browns’ division, the AFC North.
JUNE 1, 11:20pm: Both teams have announced the trade. It is indeed Garrett for Verse, a 2027 first-rounder, a 2028 second-rounder and a 2029 third-rounder.
12:23pm: Myles Garrett‘s time in Cleveland is coming to an end. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year is being traded from the Browns to the Rams, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero and ESPN’s Adam Schefter report.
The full trade terms, per Schefter, consist of Garrett being traded for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a second-round selection in 2028 and a 2029 third-rounder. This swap is not official yet, as Browns GM Andrew Berry confirms (video link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). Once it is processed, though, it will no doubt go down as a seminal moment for both franchises.
[RELATED: Fallout From Browns-Rams Blockbuster]
Schefter reports Garrett has chosen to waive his no-trade clause to allow for this deal to take place. He will retain that clause upon arrival in Los Angeles. As Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes, today’s stunning swap represents the first time in history a reigning Defensive Play of the Year has been dealt.
Garrett has been the subject of trade speculation since he requested to be dealt last spring. That request was rescinded when a then-record extension was worked out. The seven-time Pro Bowler seemed to be in position to remain with Cleveland for years to come, but questions continued to be raised after the 2025 campaign saw him add further to his long list of accolades without any accompanying team success. Indeed, whispers about a trade lingered through the 2026 offseason.
In March, the Browns restructured Garrett’s contract in a way which did not add any new money or years to the pact. Nevertheless, the payment dates for his option bonuses were pushed back to one week before the start of the regular season. That move extended the window of opportunity for a trade – something Cleveland has denied would be taking place on multiple occasions – to be worked out.
June 1 is always a key checkpoint on the NFL calendar, and it was recently labeled the time after which a Garrett trade could occur. Just like the case of A.J. Brown, a deal formally being worked out any time after 3:00pm this afternoon will greatly impact the salary cap implications of the deal. Proceeding with this trade in a post-June 1 fashion will generate $8.34MM in cap savings for Cleveland with a $41MM dead money charge being spread out (and accounting for $15.53MM in 2026). Garrett’s contract runs through 2030.
Per Rapoport (video link), the Rams engaged in trade talks with the Browns shortly after the contract adjustment was made. Their efforts continued through the draft, with Cleveland remaining steadfast in rejecting offers. Things changed when Los Angeles general manager Les Snead offered to include Verse in the deal, though. Negotiations on an adjusted package of picks have now resulted in an agreement. Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Rams informed Verse of the news earlier today.
Garrett has made clear his intention of playing on a contending team particularly toward the latter stages of his career. This blockbuster trade will help in that regard; the Rams fell just short of a Super Bowl appearance in 2025 and have made other win-now moves on defense since then. Garrett will join cornerback Trent McDuffie as a new face tasked with elevating Los Angeles’ defense while the teams seeks out another high-end campaign from quarterback Matthew Stafford and Co. on offense.
The Rams were a strong Brown suitor, but Breer notes their inability to acquire him helped set up this Garrett push. Another lucrative pact – one which averages $40MM per year – is now on the books, but Los Angeles will have a future Hall of Famer leading the way along a defensive front which was already among the league’s best. This acquisition will further deprive the Rams of draft capital (which was critical in establishing the post-Aaron Donald core on defense); then again, Snead’s stance when it comes to picks is rather well known.
Verse, whom Schefter notes was born in Dayton, Ohio, has enjoyed a strong start to his career. The 2024 first-rounder took home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors while thriving in a full-time starting role. Last season, the 25-year-old collected a second Pro Bowl nod in as many years while posting 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. His rookie contract runs through 2028, and Cleveland could keep him in place for a longer period via the fifth-year option.
Since Verse is five years younger than Garrett, he will align better with the roster reset Berry is overseeing. The 2025 class offered promising early results with respect to a new core emerging for Cleveland. The fate of the quarterback position beyond 2026 is unclear, but additional capital should help yield options on that front or at least provide upgrades at other spots.
In a series of remarks which have proved to provide noteworthy foreshadowing, new Browns head coach Todd Monken said earlier on Monday (video link via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan) he was not given any assurances upon being hired about Garrett remaining with the team. Instead of having the single-season sack record holder in the fold for his first year leading an NFL team, Monken will be tasked with integrating Verse and developing the group of younger players brought in via Cleveland’s haul of draft picks.
Retired DT Aaron Donald Mulling Return
11:58pm: Donald is adding more fuel to the fire. In a conversation with Jordan Schultz, the defensive lineman acknowledged that he’s considering a comeback.
“I’m for sure flirting with the idea. Helluva an opportunity with the Super Bowl in SoFi this year. If I can find the fire, it’s a possibility.”
2:35pm: The Rams added an all-time great defender when they acquired pass rusher extraordinaire Myles Garrett from the Browns on Monday. Garrett may not be the last future Hall of Famer to join the Rams’ defense before the upcoming season. On the heels of the Garrett trade, it appears retired Ram Aaron Donald is mulling a comeback.
When ESPN’s Pat McAfee contacted Donald via text about a potential return in the wake of the Garrett blockbuster, the 35-year-old admitted, “It for sure got me thinking.” Donald added that he’s “gotta see if that fire can light back up” after two full years out of the NFL.
With the Rams still based in St. Louis at the time, they spent the 13th overall pick in the 2014 draft on Donald. It quickly became one of the wisest decisions in franchise history, as Donald turned into one of the most dominant defensive tackles ever. He earned Pro Bowl honors in all 10 of his seasons, picked up eight first-team All-Pro selections (tied with Reggie White and Bruce Smith for most among D-linemen) and won the Defensive Player of the Year three times. Donald was also a major contributor on the Rams’ most recent Super Bowl-winning team in 2021.
The Rams were already atop the list of Super Bowl favorites for the upcoming campaign before they took a home run swing on Garrett. Although the trade cost them standout edge defender Jared Verse and three picks, including a 2027 first-rounder, they landed a player who set the single-season sack record (23) and won DPOY for the second time in 2025. Their odds of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next February would only seem to improve with Donald, a well-known workout warrior who has stayed in shape in his post-playing days. With 111 sacks on his resume, he would join the likes of Garrett, Byron Young, Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Poona Ford to form a terrifying group up front.
When Donald walked away from the game in March 2024, there was one season left on the three-year, $95MM extension he signed in 2022. His retirement forced the Rams to spread $33MM in dead money over the previous two seasons ($24MM in 2024 and $9MM in ’25). Donald is off the team’s books now, but that will change if he makes the bombshell decision to return. The Rams have approximately $16.34MM in spending room, according to OverTheCap.
Rams Pursued Myles Garrett In 2022; Multiple Teams Submitted Offers For Browns DE In 2026
The Rams traded for Myles Garrett in a blockbuster deal with the Browns on Monday, but this was not the first time they attempted to acquire the All-Pro pass rusher.
Los Angeles’ pursuit of Garrett dates back to 2022, per Jourdan Rodrigue and Zac Jackson of The Athletic, when they were looking to reload and chase back-to-back Super Bowls. The Browns were not interested in moving Garrett then, nor had he made any effort to leave Cleveland.
[RELATED: Rams Give Browns Chance To Capitalize On Sell-High Opportunity]
The Rams, who also sent the Panthers an offer of two first-rounders and a third for Brian Burns, considered trading for Garrett again the next year but instead opted for a soft reset year as they developed their young talent. The Rams re-engaged after the Browns adjusted Garrett’s contract earlier this offseason. General manager Andrew Berry insisted the alterations were unrelated to a potential trade, but he protested too much.
Multiple teams submitted offers for Garrett, with the Rams emerging as the most persistent suitor, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Their package – first-, second-, and third-round picks plus 2024 first-round edge rusher Jared Verse – was too good to pass up. (The third-rounder, slated for the 2029 draft, is conditional, according to Howard Balzer of Cardswire.)
“No regrets,” Berry said (via Jackson). “Why now? The opportunity was too great.” Unlike last year, he added, Garrett did not request a move out of Cleveland.
The opportunity Berry speaks of is twofold. First is getting a young, cost-controlled edge rusher whose advanced metrics outpace his traditional production, something that was likely especially appealing to the Browns’ analytically-minded front office. Verse cannot replace Garrett – no player can – but he will still ensure high-quality play off the edge that no one else on Cleveland’s roster could replicate.
Second, and more importantly for the Browns, is adding draft capital that will help them land their desired quarterback prospect in 2027. Cleveland has been stuck in a black hole at the position for years; its annual search for a starter is practically a running joke around the NFL. Garrett should still have years of high-level play left in him, but at 30 years old, he is an imperfect fit for the Browns’ timeline, which is centered around strong draft classes in the last two years and finding a franchise QB next year.
Negotiations between the Rams and the Browns took off this spring with both teams growing confident in a deal by April’s draft. That was part of the calculus in Los Angeles’ surprising first-round selection of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Solidifying the future of the position allowed the Rams to sacrifice future draft picks that could have otherwise been spent on a different Matthew Stafford successor. Locking down a cost-controlled QB on a rookie deal will also ease the financial strain of absorbing Garrett’s contract along with Trent McDuffie‘s extension and potential long-term deals with players like Puka Nacua, Byron Young, Kobie Turner, and Braden Fiske.