The AFC and the NFC have exchanged two of the biggest playmakers on opposite sides of the ball in what are the biggest trades of the offseason. The Los Angeles Rams have acquired defensive end Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns, while the New England Patriots have marked an end to months of speculation after trading for wide receiver A.J. Brown. And it won’t be unfair to say that both players have received what they wanted: To play elsewhere in the 2026 season.

It took a year, but the Browns fulfilled Myles Garrett’s desire

Myles Garrett has been wanting a way out of Cleveland for a while now. While the team has done its best to try to keep him on the roster, even offering him an extension, but a year later, they finally decided to move on from him.

Los Angeles sent Jared Verse and three draft picks in exchange for the former Browns defensive end. Along with Verse, Cleveland received a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick. Considering a post-June 1 trade, the Browns will carry $15.54M in dead money from Garrett’s contract on their salary cap in 2026. The remaining amount, meanwhile, will be counted against the cap next year.

“We have long taken the stance that our goal was for Myles Garrett to be a one-helmet player for his entire career,” general manager Andrew Berry said. “After rewriting the record books and representing our organization with excellence, we were sincere in that desire as we entered this offseason and did not envision a world where Myles was not a Cleveland Brown.

“When the Rams first approached us with the possibility of trading Myles, we remained convicted in our position, but as discussions intensified, we were stuck at a legitimate crossroads: Do we hold on to a truly generational player who has become the identity of our team, or do we make the difficult decision that we think is best for the organization over the long run? In that framework, the decision became clear.”

That said, it won’t be unfair to say that Garrett never belonged in Cleveland. Nine seasons and only two playoff appearances? That’s far below the standard for a player who has won two Defensive Player of the Year trophies. That’s exactly why the 30-year-old requested a trade the previous offseason. Instead, the Browns responded with a four-year, $160 million extension that included more than $122 million in guaranteed money.

But now’s the time to recall what Garrett said when he first asked out in 2025:

“While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stage won’t allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”

But the Browns failed to make the postseason, let alone win the Super Bowl. Garrett had the best season of his career, as he surpassed Michael Strahan and TJ Watt to break the single-season sack record with 23 sacks last season. But at the same time, the Browns were never a complete football team.

The offensive side struggled, especially amid another quarterback carousel. With three quarterbacks running the offseason throughout the season, Cleveland finished with 5-12 and is now under another rebuild. But the signs of Garrett and the Browns eventually breaking up were already there.

For starters, the Browns had modified Garrett’s contract earlier this year, when they deferred $29 million in bonus payments that were scheduled to be paid by September across the next three years. Besides, the Browns had hired Todd Monken over former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to replace Kevin Stefanski in late January.

Since then, Cleveland has held voluntary minicamp and OTAs. But Garrett and Monken never even had an official meeting despite Monken being hired in late January. Fast forward to now, and that meeting will never happen, at least not as members of the same organization.

Across nine seasons, he recorded 125.5 sacks. There is no doubt that he will go down as one of the best modern-day players for the Browns, but he felt that it was imperative for him to move on to win the Super Bowl.

A.J. Brown gets a new start under his former head coach

This week, the Patriots acquired Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a fifth-round selection in 2027. The move fills a major void in New England’s receiver room after the franchise parted ways with Stefon Diggs earlier this offseason. At the same time, it addresses one of the organization’s longest-standing weaknesses. Since Randy Moss left in 2010, the Patriots have never truly had an elite outside receiver.

In New England, Brown will immediately step into the WR1 role alongside Romeo Doubs, who arrived during free agency. Across seven seasons in the NFL, Brown has recorded six 1,000+ yard seasons. With the Eagles, meanwhile, he had 339 receptions for 5,034 yards and 32 touchdowns. Fast forward to now, and Brown is a Patriot.

As per the post-June 1 trade, the Eagles will spread the receiver’s $43.45 million dead money across the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The Eagles will absorb a $16.35 million cap hit this year. More importantly, the move brings an end to frustrations that had been building between both sides for quite some time.

The Eagles indeed signed Brown to a three-year, $96 million extension that kept him under contract through the 2029 season. But the receiver’s relationship with the organization remained complicated. During a livestream in November 2025, Brown admitted he had “been struggling” and said that outside of his family, “everything else (is) a s–t show.”

He later doubled down on that frustration while speaking with reporters, saying, “If you have eyes, you can see that. I’m literally trying to laugh through this s–t. This s–t is tough. But I’m trying to make fun of the situation and to try to get through it. So, you know, it is what it is, man.”

That frustration also showed up in the numbers. On paper, Brown still eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark. In reality, however, Brown had one of his least efficient seasons, as his yards per game were his lowest since his rookie season, while his 12.9 yards per reception marked a career low.

As soon as the 2025 season was over, rumors linked Brown as a trade candidate with the Patriots being the top contender. Brown already has a history with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel from their days together with the Tennessee Titans. During the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year, Vrabel spoke highly of the receiver.

“I’ve watched him grow. I’ve watched him mature. I’m proud of him. Proud of the father that he is, proud of the husband (he is), and that has nothing to do with where he plays or where he played,” Vrabel said. “Those are the things that are important. We reach out and text each other during the things that happen, good to each other, and sometimes things don’t go so well for the people that you’re close with, and you text those as well. It’s a two-way street of support and reminders of what got us to where we are here today.”

That said, Brown will now lead the Patriots’ receiving corps while becoming the primary weapon for quarterback Drake Maye as he enters the third season of his career. Whether that partnership reaches its full potential is something we’ll find out when the 2026 season kicks off in roughly three months.