Myles Garrett already knows which team he wants circled on his calendar. The new Los Angeles Rams pass rusher named the Seattle Seahawks as the divisional opponent he’s most eager to face in 2026, and it’s not hard to see why. Seattle is the team that beat the Rams for a trip to the Super Bowl last season, then went on to win it.
“I want the champs,” Garrett said, according to Nate Atkins of The Athletic, in comments posted on X. It’s a short line, but it lands. Sam Darnold and the Seahawks now have a five-time First-Team All-Pro circling the date.
Which NFC West rival are you most looking forward to facing this season?
Myles Garrett: “I want the champs.”
— Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_) July 24, 2026
Garrett’s Arrival Changes Everything for the Rams
Garrett spent nine seasons wrecking offenses in the AFC North before the Cleveland Browns traded him to the Rams in June, sending pass rusher Jared Verse and multiple draft picks back to Cleveland in one of the biggest trades in NFL history involving a defensive player. Now he’s aimed at the NFC West.
The move came a year removed from a season that ended painfully for Los Angeles. The Rams lost 31-27 to Seattle in the NFC Championship Game, a defeat that was partly self-inflicted and one the front office clearly hasn’t forgotten. General manager Les Snead didn’t sit still afterward. He landed former Kansas City Chiefs cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson before going out and acquiring Garrett, turning an already good roster into one that’s difficult to find a hole in.
Garrett’s numbers explain the urgency. He racked up 23 sacks last season, an NFL single-season record, to go with 60 combined tackles, 33 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles across 17 games. He also won Defensive Player of the Year. Dropping that kind of production into a defense that struggled to close out January’s title game is the definition of buying an insurance policy after the fact.
| Category | Myles Garrett, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Sacks | 23 (NFL single-season record) |
| Tackles | 60 |
| Tackles for loss | 33 |
| Forced fumbles | 3 |
| Games played | 17 |
Why Seattle Is the Measuring Stick
Garrett picking the Seahawks over any other NFC West team isn’t complicated. Mike Macdonald’s group is coming off a Super Bowl title, and Seattle is the team that ended the Rams’ season in January. Beating the champs is how a defense proves it belongs in that conversation, and Garrett wants his fingerprints on that story from the jump.
There’s a scheme dimension here too. The Rams’ pass rush struggled to consistently pressure Sam Darnold in that NFC title game, and Los Angeles’ secondary took the brunt of the blame for the loss. That’s part of why Snead went out and got McDuffie and Watson. Garrett gives new defensive coordinator Chris Shula a difference-maker off the edge who can speed up a quarterback’s clock and make those secondary upgrades look even better.
None of that guarantees anything. Sam Darnold has already shown he can play through pressure, and Seattle enters the season as defending champions for a reason. But the Rams now have the profile of a team built to answer January’s result directly, not just add name value.
Circle Christmas Day
Seattle hosts Los Angeles at Lumen Field on Friday, December 25, in a Week 17 matchup on FOX — a game the NFL scheduled specifically as a rematch of January’s NFC Championship. It’ll be Garrett’s first shot at the team he says he wants most, and the Seahawks’ first-ever Christmas Day home game.
