Jared Verse isn’t trying to be the next Myles Garrett. He’s trying to make sure nobody has to ask him to be.
Speaking on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns pass rusher said he’s fully bought into his new team after the shock of being traded away from the Los Angeles Rams wore off. Verse didn’t sugarcoat how much the trade stung at first.
“I’d be lying to y’all if I say it didn’t hurt, if it didn’t bother me,” Verse said, according to NFL.com. “You build relationships with people, you build a routine, then you start getting close, you start imagining your whole career in one place, and then you don’t get a warning; it just kind of pops up on you one day, and you just gotta swallow it.”
That’s about as honest an answer as you’ll get from a 25-year-old who found out his career address was changing with one phone call. Verse was the centerpiece of the package the Browns demanded in the deal that sent two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Rams, along with a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder and a 2029 third-rounder. Garrett is the Browns’ all-time sack leader. Trading him was never going to be a small story, and Cleveland made clear the return had to include Verse or there was no deal at all.
General manager Andrew Berry said as much when the trade closed. Berry told reporters he didn’t seriously entertain moving Garrett until Los Angeles put Verse on the table.
Once Verse got to Berea, the mood shifted. Fast.
“Once I got to Cleveland, I met the coaches, I met my teammates, I met the staff, I saw the vision that they not only have for me, but for the whole team, I started getting excited, I started getting hyped up,” Verse said. “I was like, man, forget this offseason, this little camp, preseason — let’s get right to the season so we could start right now.”
Verse wants his own identity, not Garrett’s old one
Garrett left big shoes in Cleveland. Over nine seasons he racked up 125.5 sacks, set the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23 in 2025, and became the first player since 1982 to post at least 12 sacks in six straight years. Replacing that production with one player, let alone one who’s only entering year three, isn’t realistic. Verse isn’t pretending it is.
Instead, he’s framing the defense around himself, not around who used to be there.
“The Cleveland Browns defense has always been known as aggressive, attacking, really getting after you, really getting in your face, being mental,” Verse said. “I’m just here to add to that. You’ve got Alex Wright out there, you’ve got Mike Hall, you’ve got all these dominant defensive players, not even just to mention Carson Schwesinger and Q (Quincy Williams). You’ve got all these dudes all over the defense that are very aggressive.
“I’m here just to add my own little flavor. I’m here to get in your face. I’m here to be a little bit more aggressive. I’m here to just have that statement: That’s Jared Verse defense. I want that to be the standard of defense across the nation. That’s Jared Verse defense. That old-school defense where you got to get nitty-gritty and you’re gonna really have to earn every yard that we play, everything you get.”
It’s a bold thing to say two months after arriving in a new building. It’s also on brand for a player who’s never lacked confidence, going back to when he was the centerpiece of a Florida State pass rush and told anyone who’d listen he expected to dominate at the next level too.
The numbers behind the confidence
Verse isn’t just talking. He’s produced since the day he stepped on an NFL field, even in a down year statistically compared to his rookie season.
| Season | Games | Tackles | Sacks | Forced Fumbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (Rookie) | 17 | 66 | 4.5 | 2 |
| 2025 | 17 | 58 | 7.5 | 3 |
Verse won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024 and made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. His 2025 numbers were quieter in some columns but sharper where it counts most for a pass rusher — sacks jumped from 4.5 to 7.5, and his forced-fumble total climbed to three, tied for third-most in the league at the time. He’s no Garrett yet. Nobody realistically is. But he’s an ascending player who was productive enough that a division-rival front office refused to sign off on the Garrett trade without him.
Why this matters for Cleveland
The Browns aren’t rebuilding around one trade. They’re betting Verse’s timeline — 25 years old, cost-controlled, still climbing — fits a longer-term plan better than paying market rate to keep a 30-year-old Garrett past his prime years. Cleveland also walked away with three future draft picks, giving the front office flexibility to keep adding around a defense that already includes Alex Wright, Mike Hall, Carson Schwesinger and Quincy Williams.
None of that erases what the Browns are giving up in the short term. Garrett is a generational pass rusher and the offense in Cleveland remains a question mark. But if Verse’s pass rush continues trending the direction it did from year one to year two, and the young pieces around him develop on schedule, the defense doesn’t have to collapse just because the name at the top changed.
Verse made clear Wednesday he’s not interested in being measured against what came before him. He wants a new standard, with his name on it.
