The NFL’s leading rusher is coming off a record-setting 23.0-sack campaign. Garrett has been named a first-team All-American in five of the last six seasons, won six straight Pro Bowls and had at least 10 sacks in each of the last eight campaigns — all but his rookie season in 2017.
A force of nature, Garrett works off the line by flashing the first step and dominates with both finesse and power. The 30-year-old can single-handedly destroy offensive game plans and force teams to send double teams and chips his way, making life easier for the rest of the unit.
In nine seasons, Garrett has racked up 125.5 career sacks, tied for 20th all-time. During its run, Cleveland struggled on offense, rarely giving the pass rusher a chance to pin his ears and pick up trash bags with opponents in pass-first mode. In his nine years, the Browns never finished with an offense in the top 10 in EPA in a game and were dead last two seasons. That never slowed down for Garrett, who amassed 37 sacks over the last two campaigns.
Now imagine him playing against Stafford, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Kyren Williams and the rest of Sean McVay’s offense.
As Stafford put up an MVP season in 2025, the Rams defense struggled to get stops at times – see: Seattle. Much of the issue was on the back end, which was repeatedly picked up. However, for a spell, the race went too slowly. Byron Young had a team-high 12 sacks last year, as Verse finished second with 7.5.
The Rams are the first team in NFL history to pair the reigning NFL MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, according to NFL Network Research. They also boast the receiving leader (Nacua) and receiving leader (Adams).
LA attacked in the offseason, making big moves to revamp the secondary, trading a first-round pick to the Chiefs for McDuffie and adding Jaylen Watson in free agency.
Trading for Garrett overshadows those moves, giving defensive coordinator Chris Shula the NFL’s top defensive weapon to deploy. Back and forth, the Rams made huge moves to upgrade the unit exponentially in 2026.
The controversial move of selecting Ty Simpson in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft helped LA make this trade. With their QB succession plan for the 38-year-old Stafford theoretically handled, they could afford to send a first-rounder to Cleveland, believing they wouldn’t need to use that ammunition for a signal-caller down the road.