The Myles Garrett Effect was undeniable during his nine years in Cleveland.
Opposing offensive coordinators, quarterbacks and tackles lost sleep worrying about him and preparing for him. Game plans were designed to try to keep him from wrecking the game. Quarterbacks made sure to locate him at the line of scrimmage and did all they could — often unsuccessfully — to get rid of the ball before he could plant his orange helmet in their back.
Garrett, who has been named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year two of the last three years, is gone, sent to the Los Angeles Rams in a trade June 1. The return was significant: two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse, a first-round pick in 2027, a second-rounder in ’28 and a third-rounder in ’29.
With the season set to start Sunday in Jacksonville, a crucial question remains unanswered: How will offenses approach the Garrett-less Browns defense differently?
“We still have Jared,” first-year coach Todd Monken said. “That was the greatest thing about the trade. You get a Pro Bowl player in return (at the same position).
“Going against either one of those guys is very difficult because they can wreck the game. Myles was a guy that could wreck games. You have to know where he is at all times. And Jared’s one of those guys. They’re both special players.”
“We got Jared, so we’re not worried about Myles,” defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. said. “We’re worried about Jacksonville.”
General manager Andrew Berry said he wouldn’t have made the trade without getting Verse. He’s 25 years old, was NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024 and has two Pro Bowl selections in two seasons.
He isn’t Garrett, who set the NFL season sack record with 23 last year and has at least 10 in eight straight seasons. Verse was among the league leaders in pressures but totaled 4.5 sacks as a rookie and 7.5 last year. He’s more of a power rusher, while Garrett bent around the edge.
Will opponents devote as many resources to stopping Verse as they did with Garrett? Will the line always slide his way? Will a tight end and/or running back chip him on nearly every obvious passing down? Will the play design and quarterback be obsessed with getting rid of the ball quickly?
Before left end Alex Wright was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, he predicted quarterbacks would hold the ball longer despite the rest of the defense adding 30 sacks a year ago as it ranked fourth overall in the NFL.
“But it’s disrespect if they hold the ball longer because they think that we can’t rush,” he said.
The quicker passes made life easier on the defenders in coverage. They could play tighter at the line and worry less about long routes and double moves. Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward, who played with Garrett for eight years, anticipates quarterbacks taking more time in the pocket.
“Myles Garrett, he definitely gets back there in a very quick rate. So that ball’s coming out a little quicker,” Ward said. “So definitely just got to stay tighter on our coverage and to our man as the play goes on. But I think we’ll be good.”
Tyson Campbell, the other starting corner, is optimistic things won’t change much.
“We’ll have to see,” he said. “I feel like we still got the same D-line coach and most of the same D-linemen in the room. So as much as Myles was, they were rushing pretty well, too. So we’ll see.”
Respected coordinator Jim Schwartz resigned after not getting the head job, but new coordinator Mike Rutenberg will continue to run an attacking scheme and retained the assistants, including line coach Jacques Cesaire. Second-year defensive tackle Mason Graham will be among those asked to fill the vast void left by Garrett.
“Myles is good at what he does. He’s going to do what he does, at the end of the day he’s going to have more than 20 sacks probably again this year,” Graham told The Chronicle-Telegram. “But we got Jared now. I feel like he’s just going to help the D-line as a whole. Everyone’s going to be rushing together, just working more together and just kind of doing our thing.
“Everyone’s got to step up their game. I feel like we’re all kind of individually working on taking that next step ourselves. So it’ll make the whole defense better.”
While Garrett’s presence created one-on-ones for others, tackle Maliek Collins pointed out that wasn’t always the case.
“Unless you was on that side,” he said. “If you was on that side, it was guaranteed to have a slide. So me and him together on that side, had the center coming, backs chipping through B gaps. But we still had a lot of success defensively.
“We’ll see how teams want to play us.”
The other area that deserves the most attention is the run game. Teams spent much of the game running away from Garrett’s side, which made it easier for middle linebacker Carson Schwesinger to anticipate.
He might have to play things more honestly this season.
“I think with our front you get attacked very similarly just because of how our front four play,” he said. “Obviously you might see some changes or more runs go to both sides and things like that. But at the end of the day, we put our 11 out there and our whole goal is to cause chaos on the offensive side of the ball and make plays.”
Rutenberg has added more disguise on the back end, but the expectations haven’t changed.
“Every day we show up and our goal is to be the best defense in the league,” said Schwesinger, the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
“I don’t think that’s changed the whole time I’ve been here. And regardless of what’s changing, who’s here, who’s not, the 11 that we have on the field, the goal is to go out there and be the best defense in the NFL.”
