Sean McVay didn’t hide from the awkward part of the Jared Verse-for-Myles Garrett blockbuster. He also didn’t try to dress it up as painless.
Speaking on the Daily Flock on the BIGPLAY Sports Network with Jason LaCanfora, the Rams head coach acknowledged what it meant for Los Angeles to include Verse in the deal.
“Lot of respect on both sides, and I think both teams feel good about it even though it was challenging on our end because there’s a player that I have a lot of love and appreciation for what he’s done over these two years.
“But, you know what I told him is, ‘Sometimes to get something great, you got to give up something great,’ and that’s what that trade was reflective of.”
McVay’s comments came more than a month and a half after the Rams sent Verse, along with a first-round pick in 2027, a second-round pick in 2028 and a third-round pick in 2029, to the Browns for Garrett, who was fresh off a single-sack season record for Cleveland.
It was a huge price, and that was the point. The Rams weren’t dealing from a position of spare parts. Verse is a 25-year-old player on the rise, one who began his NFL career with Defensive Player of the Year honors just two seasons ago and could still be under team control for another four years, if you count the optional fifth-year for first-round picks plus one year on the franchise tag.
Still, the trade package tells the real story. Los Angeles paid that kind of freight because it sees Garrett as a different level of player, and Cleveland made sure Verse was part of the return because it believes in what he can become. Andrew Berry didn’t insist on Verse for no reason, and the Rams didn’t put him in the deal by accident.
The gap between the two players is the heart of it. Garrett’s impact on the passing game goes beyond sacks, and in today’s NFL that matters more than almost anything. Verse has age, upside and contract value on his side, but Garrett’s ability to alter a game is in another tier.
McVay’s line to Verse fit the moment, but the cleaner version might have been this: sometimes you have to give up something great to get something greater.
And the final accounting won’t be complete until the Browns’ haul of Verse and those three picks plays out.
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