Tom Pelissero: Browns & Rams Have Been Talking Garrett Trade Since the Draft

Tom Pelissero's headline was in the timeline: the Browns and Rams had been talking about Myles Garrett since right after the draft. Cleveland spent the offseason insisting it would not move him, but to Pelissero's ear, the denials never carried the flat refusal they did a year earlier.

This was not a bidding war. Pelissero described it as a one-bidder situation, the Rams or nobody, no matter what rumors floated about other suitors. And Cleveland had a single hard condition: a young player it insisted on getting back, and only once that piece was locked in did the deal come together. Around it came the draft capital, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second and a 2029 third. The timing of that 2027 first, in a draft regarded as loaded at quarterback, gives a Browns team rolling into 2026 with Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson the ammunition to chase a passer the following year.

Pelissero made clear the player Cleveland had to have was Jared Verse, and the price reflects what Verse is. Pelissero stopped short of the Micah Parsons comparison, which cost two first-rounders, but put Verse in rare air as a young, cost-controlled pass rusher. Brian Burns once went for a couple of seconds, Pelissero noted, and Max Crosby was reportedly going to command two first-round picks. Verse, he said, is not far off that kind of haul on his own.

For the Rams, the logic is simpler: they are going for it. Los Angeles re-signed Matthew Stafford, traded a first-round pick for Trent McDuffie and spent in free agency, all to capitalize on a window with Stafford near the end of his career but still close to his prime. In a rocky NFC West that includes the Super Bowl champion Seahawks and the 49ers, Pelissero said, you need every horse you can get, and Garrett changes the math on defense.

There was even a financial tell. Garrett signed a record extension 15 months ago, and a couple of months ago his option bonus was quietly deferred from March to September. Pelissero cautioned against reading too much into it, but the practical effect is that the Rams, not the Browns, will now pay that bonus.

The ripple Rich wanted confirmed was A.J. Brown. Pelissero believes that ship sailed a month ago and expects Brown to land with the Patriots, with a 2028 first-round pick as the centerpiece. He would not rule out the Eagles dragging negotiations toward training camp if they push for more, but he is not betting on it.

Step back, and the Rams' offseason is staggering. They traded a first for McDuffie, used another first on a quarterback who ideally redshirts this year, and just sent next year's first and one of their best young players to Cleveland for Garrett.

"That's a pretty wild offseason," Pelissero said.