Understanding why Rams are willing and able to pull off blockbuster trades when Lions don't
Allen Park — For the second time in five years, the Los Angeles Rams are pulling out all the stops in pursuit of a Super Bowl.
Already the early favorite after aggressively addressing the team’s secondary — a deficiency that led to their downfall a year earlier — the Rams pulled off a stunning trade on Monday, sending two-time Pro Bowler Jared Verse and a trio of early-round draft picks to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for seven-time All-Pro and future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett.
The blockbuster is the sequel to another needle-moving deal in March, when the Rams sent four draft picks, including a 2026 first-rounder, to Kansas City for cornerback Trent McDuffie. They promptly awarded the defender with the largest contract for a cornerback in NFL history.
The McDuffie trade, paired with signing cornerback Jaylen Watson and re-signing safety Kam Curl, bolstered a defensive backfield that had been torched by the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship.
Clearly not wanting to waste the twilight of reigning MVP Matthew Stafford’s career, the Rams are taking a similar path to one they followed in 2021, when they traded two first-rounders and former No. 1 pick Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for Stafford and picked up superstar edge rusher Von Miller at the trade deadline to strengthen a championship push.