Rams To Place DE Myles Garrett On IR

The Rams – after making a run at the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby – acquired Garrett in June in a headline-grabbing trade that sent three draft picks (including a 2027 first-rounder) and Jared Verse to the Browns. That deal was part of another splashy offseason for Los Angeles GM Les Snead, who also acquired and extended cornerback Trent McDuffie and signed fellow CB Jaylen Watson in free agency. Those moves helped position the Rams as Super Bowl favorites at the start of the season.

However, things did not go according to plan in Week 1, as the 49ers routed Los Angeles by a 27-7 score. In the defeat, Garrett was held without a tackle for the first time since 2024 and just the fourth time of his career (h/t ESPN’s Sarah Barshop). He will now miss at least the next four games against a tough slate of opponents that includes the Broncos, Eagles, and Bills.

As Barshop notes, Garrett missed most of training camp with swelling in his knee, and he naturally did not play in any preseason games. After the loss to the Niners, the 30-year-old pass rusher called his performance in that contest “the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there” and said he was “a little bit more focused on myself and trying to stay healthy than what [the 49ers] were doing.”

Garrett will now have ample time to focus on his health as he seeks to return to the form the Rams expected to see when they traded for him. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter observes, Los Angeles may at least have Aaron Donald to bolster its defensive front in Garrett’s absence. Donald, who unretired to help the Rams’ quest for another championship ring, did not travel with the team to Australia for the season opener but could be in the lineup in Week 2.

The Garrett swap and the deal that sent WR A.J. Brown from the Eagles to the Patriots were the two biggest completed trades of the offseason. After suiting up for their respective clubs in Week 1, both players will now be on the shelf for an extended period of time.

Nikhil Mehta contributed to this post.