Myles Garrett Draws Attention Amid Telling Message About Rams Move
· Yahoo Sports
Myles Garrett has yet to play a down for the Los Angeles Rams, but he has already swung opinions further in their favor, thanks to his strong track record.
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The Rams surrendered a hefty sum for Garrett. That includes 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year and two-time Pro Bowler Jared Verse. That raises the stakes for the Rams and Garrett to advance further than they did with Verse and the Cleveland Browns, respectively.
Coming off a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2025, the mission is clear for LA.
Myles Garrett on Award Watch
GettyMyles Garrett could take home some more hardware ahead of the 2026 season.
Garrett, Rams teammate and quarterback Matthew Stafford, QB Drake Maye of the New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba–the reigning Offensive Player of the Year–for Best NFL Player at the 2026 ESPN ESPYs.
ESPN’s Field Yates chose Garrett, the reigning and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Yates argued not just for Garrett, but also against the “quarterback bias” that is inherent in awards.
Moreover, Yates suggested Garrett could repeat as the best player in 2026.
“Last year, as a member of the Cleveland Browns, set the NFL single-season sack record, and did so in a system in which there were a lot of games which the Browns were playing from behind,” Yates said ESPN’s ESPYs special on June 27.
“He had a 5-sack game against the AFC champion, New England Patriots; he was unblockable. He was double teamed, that didn’t work. My vote goes to Myles Garrett as the NFL player.”
ESPN insider and co-panelist Dan Graziano concurred.
“I was at that game where Myles Garrett had five sacks in a loss in Foxborough. And I remember him after the game and how sort of morose he looked about it because they had lost and he was sick of losing,” Graziano said.
“Watching Myles Garrett go from Cleveland to the Los Angeles Rams and becoming a player that I think the entire world is going to be able to understand how great he is, because the games will be in prime time and all those things, I think this is going to be a tremendous validation of what’s already been a Hall of Fame-caliber career.”
Graziano also argued that “if the MVP award could go to defensive players on losing teams. I think Myles Garrett might have won it last year. But as we know, it does not.”
Myles Garrett Trade Expected to Have ‘Biggest Impact’ on Rams
GettyThe Los Angeles Rams swung the odds further in their favor with their trade for Myles Garrett.
ESPN’s Sarah Barshop noted how much adding Garrett via trade improved “an already impressive pass rush.” It also overshadowed the Rams’ trade for cornerback Trent McDuffie. The deal for McDuffie “would have been an offseason-altering move” for most other teams.
“Los Angeles’ defense struggled down the stretch last season, allowing 31 points in each of their three playoff games. The Rams’ 27.3 points per game allowed from Week 13 to the end of the postseason was the seventh-worst in the NFL, according to ESPN Research,” Barshop wrote on June 27.
Trading for Garrett gives the Rams a closer on defense, something they’ve been missing since Aaron Donald retired in March 2024.”
Getting Garrett could also bring Donald out of retirement, per the latter.
“While the Rams did not trade for Garrett to lure Donald out of retirement, if the future Hall of Fame defensive tackle decides to return at some point this season, that will be a big bonus,” Barshop wrote.
Myles Garrett a Focal Point for NFC West
GettyThe Los Angeles Rams’ trade for Myles Garrett will have a big impact on the NFC West race.
Ultimately, both Garrett and the Rams hope the end result of their newfound partnership is a trip to the Super Bowl and the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
They will have to get through a tough NFC West first and foremost.
That includes the reigning Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. Each team’s beat writer believed their squad has a plan for Garrett. They all also noted that their plans will only be but so effective.
He further cemented the Rams as the only other “biggest threat” selected among the four teams outside of the defending champs.
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