Browns Clips
New Browns head coach Todd Monken did not get to meet Myles Garrett in person before the club traded him to the Rams earlier this week.
But Cleveland received Jared Verse as part of the deal, and the third-year edge rusher has already gotten to the building. That’s got Monken excited about the future.
“I mean, he’s gonna fit us like a glove,” Monken said in his Wednesday press conference, via transcript from the team.
“You wish you had unlimited time to meet with him and try to catch him up to speed. But just his willingness to get here, be here this morning to get into meetings and be on the practice field says a lot about him.”
Monken had to coach against Verse last year when he was Baltimore’s offensive coordinator.
“[H]e was one of those guys where you certainly had a game plan for and I think he’s only going to continue to ascend,” Monken said.
“[C]ertainly, his tape speaks for itself. I mean, being a Defensive Rookie of the Year and then a Pro Bowler. How many guys have done that? It’s a pretty elite group he’s in.”
Verse, 25, recorded 7.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 27 quarterback hits to reach his second consecutive Pro Bowl in 2025. He also had a sack, three TFLs, and seven QB hits in three postseason games.
The Browns traded away the current defensive player of the year when they dealt Myles Garrett to the Rams earlier this week, but they emerged from the trade with the last two defensive rookies of the year.
Jared Verse won the prize in 2024 and linebacker Carson Schwesinger gave the 2025 Browns a pair of award winners on the defensive side of the ball. Verse has not been a member of the Browns for long, but the edge rusher knows enough about his new team to know that Schwesinger provides him with a comfortable security blanket.
“Man, that boy can fly,” Verse said, via a transcript from the team. “Nah, he can work. I like that a lot. I like knowing that behind me that I can . . . I don’t got much to worry about if something, you know, I can play freely because I don’t have to worry if something gets by me. He’s going to be able to handle that. He’s going to be able to clean everything up. So now that’s the exciting factor of it.”
The Browns did not win much with Garrett on the roster, but they usually had a strong defense. The presence of Schwesinger and others provides reason to believe that will continue to be the case and the hope is that the other assets that Cleveland acquired will lead to more victories while Verse is a member of the squad.
During his time with the Browns, Myles Garrett earned all the individual achievements a defensive end could have. Now he’s setting his sights on team goals.
After he was traded to the Rams, Garrett said on the team’s YouTube channel that he’s now in a place where he thinks he can win a Super Bowl.
“I’ve done pretty much everything I set out to do in Cleveland, I’d given my all and my everything, and I’m very fortunate for my time there,” Garrett said. “But it’s always been about winning and I want to win a championship and I’m happy to be part of a franchise that’s in a position to do that, and do that for years to come.”
Garrett said he was drawn to the Rams because he thinks head coach Sean McVay and General Manager Les Snead have built a team that can contend for years to come.
“It starts with Sean and Les making this an appealing destination,” Garrett said.
Garrett only made the playoffs twice while he was with the Browns, and never advanced past the divisional round. His expectations with the Rams are a lot higher than that.
The recent federal LM-2 filing from the NFL Players Association including a stunning revelation regarding Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders. In his first year in pro football, Shedeur earned $17.7 million in royalty payments.
In an interview with Front Office Sports, Colorado coach Deion Sanders (who also is Shedeur’s dad) addressed the record-setting number.
“I don’t know if people really dug into that,” Deion said, explaining that the payment wasn’t the result of jersey sales.
So if it wasn’t jersey sales, what drove the number?
“A tremendous deal with the NFLPA,” Deion said. “A tremendous deal.”
Deion previously mentioned “licensing” and “cards.” Some believe the number was largely driven by a trading-card deal negotiated before Shedeur fell to round five in the 2025 draft.
Regardless, Shedeur shattered Tom Brady’s prior one-year record of $9.5 million, establishing a new bar that will not be easy to catch.
Myles Garrett was so dominant last season that he earned all 50 first-place votes for Defensive Player of the Year. He also won the award in 2023, becoming one of only nine players to win multiple DPOY awards.
Only Aaron Donald, Watt and Lawrence Taylor have more with three each.
In nine seasons, Garrett has earned seven Pro Bowls, five first-team All-Pro honors, the single-season sacks record (23 in 2025) and 125.5 career sacks.
He is only 30, with a lot of career left as he embarks on a new chapter with the Rams.
Garrett wants more despite a near certainty that he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“I see a position to solidify myself here, as well, among the very greats,” Garrett said at his introductory news conference. “I still have plenty of great years in front of me and being able to cement that legacy, not only as a football city here in L.A., but as an individual and winning DPOY and a Super Bowl or more. Those things are definitely pressing on my mind, and I have a definite bit of urgency to do it and do it right away.”
A Super Bowl ring is the one thing missing from his resume, and Garrett should have chances to accomplish that.
In 2025, Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record. Not many (if any) of his 23.0 sacks happened when the 5-12 Browns had a multi-score lead in the second half of a game.
With the Rams, Garrett should have plenty of chances to chase quarterbacks who are desperate to move the ball through the air late in a losing effort.
“That did play into the decision as well,” Garrett told reporters on Tuesday. “Knowing I’ll have the ability late in games to pin my ears back, not just because we need a play to be made, but because we have the lead and it’s obvious passing downs. Being able to make plays to win the game for us, those are things that appeal to me and I’m sure appeal to all of us as D-linemen. That is something I really look forward to.”
It should happen. The Rams have a great offense. The defense should be better in 2026. They should be in position, on a somewhat regular basis, to let Garrett turn himself loose in an effort to chase (and possibly pass) the record he set last year, in his final stint with the Browns.
Deion Sanders is interested in meeting with Browns head coach Todd Monken to discuss ways to get the most out of his son and Monken is on board with the plan.
Sanders said recently that he wants to talk to Monken “as a coach, not a dad” about Shedeur Sanders as the quarterback moves into his second NFL season. On Wednesday, Monken told reporters that he’s ready to have that conversation whenever it works for the Colorado head coach.
“I can’t wait,” Monken said, via multiple reporters. “I’ve got a lot of respect for coach Sanders, obviously as a player but also what he’s done as a coach. He’s done a great job with Shedeur as a father. I’m open to any time he wants to meet. He said he was going to come but he had a commercial. If he just tells me where the next commercial shoot is, I’ll be there. I really am looking forward to it. I’ve got a ton of respect for him and I’ve got a ton of respect for Shedeur because all he’s done since I’ve been here is work.”
The younger Sanders closed out last season as the starter in Cleveland, but Deshaun Watson’s return to active duty has led to a competition for the job in 2026. While it remains to be seen if his father/college coach’s insights will come in time to help him win that battle, it sounds like Monken will be hearing them at some point in the near future.
When the Rams traded for Myles Garrett, they sent one of their top young players to Cleveland as part of the deal.
The 2024 AP defensive rookie of the year, Jared Verse had been making a name for himself in Los Angeles. But now that he’s no longer with the club, the Rams are offering fans a little bit of consolation.
The Rams announced on Wednesday that the club is offering a free exchange for recently purchased Verse jerseys.
The announcement notes that if you purchased a Verse jersey in person at the team’s draft party or official team store since the club launched its new uniforms in April, you’re eligible to exchange that jersey for another one of your choice.
Additionally, if you purchased any Verse jersey in the past 90 days from ramsfanshop.com, nflshop.com, or fanatics.com, that jersey may also be exchanged for free.
Visit the Rams website for additional details on the exchange process.
Jared Verse practiced with the Browns for the first time on Wednesday and then met with the media to discuss the trade that brought him to Cleveland.
Verse came to the Browns along with a package of draft picks as part of the trade that sent Myles Garrett to the Rams. The 2024 first-round pick and defensive rookie of the year said that his initial response was not a positive one, but hearing how the Browns prioritized his addition has him feeling better about his change of circumstances.
“It caught me by surprise,” Verse said. “I love L.A. I love the coaches, the organization, my teammates, the staff, the fans. I love the whole vibe of L.A. It was upsetting. I was upset for a good little bit of time, but when you’re an athlete you understand the nature of business. Everybody does what they think is best for their business and that’s the situation that I’m in. I’m happy to be a part of the Browns. I’m happy that they believe in me and that they were able to make that trade and bring me here.”
Verse said that he’s not approaching the start of his Browns tenure with the mindset of replacing Myles Garrett. He said he is focused only on being “the best me” and believes that player will be the best player in the league.
If that’s how things play out, it will be hard for anyone in Cleveland to be upset about how things played out this week.
The Rams’ trade for pass rusher Myles Garrett included parting ways with pass rusher Jared Verse. It wasn’t easy for the Rams to do it.
“Sometimes we have to be able to make decisions that are best for the collective,” McVay told reporters on Tuesday. “This is what we thought was best for our team. Even though it affected somebody that’s been a significant part in a negative way that we do love. But really it was a football decision and that’s what guides our overall approach and our compass, if you will.”
McVay said he spoke with Verse before the trade happened.
“We talked to him about the appreciation, the gratitude,” McVay said. “I think when you have to have those hard conversations, you just let him know. ‘We just executed a trade where we’re acquiring Myles Garrett and you’re going to Cleveland. I know it doesn’t feel great right now, but there’s a lot of love. There’s a lot of appreciation and gratitude for our relationship, the two years and the impact that you’ve made. I can’t wait to watch you go shine in Cleveland.’
“But I will say this, what a stud with the way that he handled it. I don’t want to say that I was surprised, but I was so impressed. When [my sons] eventually go through a challenging conversation, I hope they handle it the way that Jared Verse did. I’m a big fan of his. I know you guys know that. I’ll wish him the best and watch him do his thing but we are really excited, with respect to Jared, about being able to get this guy. It’s a big deal for us.”
The transaction underscores the reality that teams will always do what’s best for them. Players, when they have the ability to do so, should always do the same.
Verse didn’t really have any options. He was drafted by the Rams, and no rookie contract includes a no-trade clause. If the team decides to make a deal, the player has to follow his contract, with the only option being retirement.
If Verse continues to be a Pro Bowl talent, he’ll eventually have the kind of power that Garrett now enjoys. For now, Verse (like the vast majority of players) is a piece in a machine that can be removed at any time, with or without notice — and regardless of whether he wanted that outcome.
