We’ve spent the last three weeks watching the FIFA World Cup eat the American sports calendar whole, and Sean McVay used the distraction to do something that should not have been allowed to happen this quietly. On June 1, per Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, the Los Angeles Rams traded for Myles Garrett — the man who set the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23 in 2025, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, the most unblockable edge rusher the league has produced in a decade. McVay handed over Jared Verse, a 2027 first, a 2028 second, and a 2029 third to get him. Then he quietly filled the secondary with Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson while the rest of the country was watching Mexico play Morocco. The NFL is, apparently, fine with this.
https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/2061498376726729099
Is the 2026 Rams Defense Historically Good?
The honest answer, this early, is: potentially yes. The 2000 Baltimore Ravens allowed 10.3 points per game (0.8 points per drive, the lowest mark in 25 years), the NFL’s undisputed gold standard for defensive dominance. The 2026 Rams aren’t there yet. They haven’t played a snap. But they now have the kind of personnel that makes that conversation at least legitimate to begin.
Myles Garrett on the edge. Byron Young opposite him (12 sacks in 2025, which he put up as a complementary piece in the Rams’ rotation, without the benefit of commanding a defense’s full attention). Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, and Poona Ford clogging the interior. Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson in the secondary. Kam Curl at safety. Chris Shula as the defensive coordinator, who will need to earn his next contract with this group and knows it. When Kam Curl went on the Up & Adams show on June 19 and said “I feel like we’ve got a chance to be legendary,” it wasn’t bulletin-board material. It was a measured read of the roster in front of him.
The Myles Garrett Rams defense in 2026 is also operating with one significant hidden advantage: Garrett has spent the past three seasons being double-teamed or chipped on more than 40 percent of his pass-rush snaps, per ESPN, and he still led the league in sack rate (3.7%) over that stretch. In Los Angeles, he will face fewer doubled looks — because defensive coordinators now have to decide whether to prioritize him or Byron Young. They can’t do both. That’s the kind of math that makes offensive line coaches lose sleep in April.
McVay’s best defensive season was 2020 under Brandon Staley: 281.9 yards allowed per game, 18.5 points per game, first in total defense. Last year’s unit ranked 17th in yards, 10th in scoring. The gap between where they were and what they could be is, at minimum, interesting.
What McVay Gave Up to Get Here
The price was steep, and the Rams understood that going in. Jared Verse — two Pro Bowl appearances in his first two seasons, a 2024 first-round pick — went to Cleveland as the centerpiece of the deal. The Rams also surrendered a 2027 first-rounder, a 2028 second, and a 2029 third. That’s four picks across three draft classes. For an organization that has operated on a more-or-less mortgaged future since the Stafford trade, this is familiar territory. It is also, notably, a pattern that has produced a Super Bowl.
The contract math is what makes this work on paper. Garrett’s 2026 cap hit is $8.1-8.4 million, an almost comically low number for a two-time DPOY with five first-team All-Pros on his resume. (He has seven Pro Bowls, for reference. He’s 30.) The number rises to $16.1 million in 2027 and $21.4 million in 2028, at which point the Rams hold an exit. Per Schefter’s reporting, the Rams’ interest was sparked after the Browns restructured Garrett’s deal in March, moving option bonuses to seven days before the regular season, a flag visible to anyone paying attention. The Rams were.
Garrett’s farewell to Cleveland was genuinely affecting. “I gave this city everything I had,” he said. “Loving you is easy, leaving you is the hard part.” He then turned around and told Rams fans on June 2: “So excited to be in this city and play with this team. Very excited to play for a championship here.” The transition took approximately 24 hours. Professional athletes are efficient.
Garrett waived his no-trade clause to make this happen, which tells you something about how he reads the Rams’ championship window. He retained a no-trade clause in Los Angeles, which tells you he doesn’t intend to get moved again. Those two data points, read together, say more than any press conference statement.
When we first covered the trade, the immediate question was about fit. The answer is Chris Shula builds around what he has, and what he has now is generational. For what Cleveland gave up and what this means for that franchise, the Cleveland side of this story is its own complicated reckoning.
How This Changes the NFC West
Trent Williams, the 49ers’ left tackle and one of the best pass protectors in the game, had four words when asked about Garrett joining the Rams: “It sucks.” Mac Jones, the 49ers’ quarterback, said he thought the trade news was AI-generated when he first saw it. These are, in their own way, honest assessments.
The NFC West already had three of the top five teams in the conference per ESPN’s FPI before this trade. San Francisco is at +325 to win the division. Seattle is at +210. The Rams are -105. Three teams that could plausibly win the NFC, crammed into the same four-game divisional schedule. And the 49ers face the Myles Garrett Rams defense in Week 1 — in Australia, which is its own logistical wrinkle (Trent Williams will have jetlag and a sack problem simultaneously). The Seahawks’ public reaction was relatively muted, which is probably the correct response when there’s nothing useful to say.
Per ESPN’s FPI, the Rams currently project at 14.9% to win the Super Bowl, more than four percentage points ahead of the next team (the Bills). DraftKings moved them from +800 to +600 on the heels of the trade. The Rams lost the NFC Championship Game to Seattle by four points last January. Four points. The margin between where they were and where they’re trying to go is extremely thin, and McVay just added the best defensive player in football to close it.
And then there’s the Aaron Donald subplot, which McVay has not exactly discouraged. Per Schefter, an unretirement is “more likely than not.” Donald texted Pat McAfee that the Garrett trade “for sure got me thinking,” while also noting he’s 35 and has been removed from the game for two years. His wife Erica posted “Y’all are hilarious” on social media, which either means it’s not happening or means she’s seen this movie before. McVay, when asked about it directly, said: “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.” That is not a denial. That is a man leaving a door open with both hands.
If Donald returns, this roster would include three Defensive Players of the Year. The 2000 Ravens had Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware and Rod Woodson and Duane Starks. The 2026 Rams, if the Donald domino falls, would have Garrett plus Donald plus a rebuilt secondary. History, as a concept, might need to make room.
What to watch the rest of the summer: whether Donald’s decision comes before training camp (which is when it needs to come to matter for 2026), whether Shula’s scheme adaptation for Garrett’s specific skill set shows up in preseason film, and whether the NFC West’s other two serious contenders make any counter-moves before September. The 49ers have Mac Jones and a Week 1 date in Australia with the most dangerous edge rusher in the NFL. That’s a clarifying moment. Watch how they handle it.
The Myles Garrett Rams defense 2026 story is still being written. But the chapter McVay drafted this June, while America was watching soccer, is going to be very hard to top.
