2026 NFL Mock Draft Featuring Hypothetical Myles Garrett Blockbuster Trade

From the moment that Browns edge-rusher Myles Garrett asked to be traded last year, speculation has swirled that the NFL's best defensive player could be dealt.

That's right, the NFL's best defensive player—full stop. After Garrett's trade request was mollified by a four-year, $160 million contract extension, Garrett went out and had the best season a pass-rusher ever has—a record-breaking 23 sacks and his second Defensive Player of the Year award in three years.

The Browns restructured that contract recently, ostensibly so the cap-strapped team could gain additional financial flexibility. But while the team has flatly denied the team re-did the deal to make the 30-year-old easier to trade, the reality is it did—and at least one NFL executive told Mike Sando of the Athletic that he thinks Garrett is on the block.

"The report of the option bonus date moving later for Myles Garrett makes me think Cleveland is planning on trading him," the exec said.

There are multiple obstacles to Garrett actually being dealt. His salary. The massive dead cap hit the Browns would absorb. The sky-high price tag it would take to pry Garrett away from Cleveland.

Never mind the wisdom (or lack thereof) of trading your best player.

But there are a handful of Super Bowl contenders who might just be willing to offer a king's ransom to get a game-wrecking talent. A star who could be the missing piece in a championship puzzle.

And were that mega-deal to come to pass, it would send shockwaves through the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Buckle up. It's snowglobe time.

The Trade

AP Photo/Kirk Irwin

Los Angeles Rams Receive: EDGE Myles Garrett

Cleveland Browns Receive: 2026 Round 1 Pick (13), 2027 Round 1 Pick, EDGE Byron Young

There isn't a general manager in the NFL who has been more aggressive in trading away first-round picks for veteran players over the past decade-plus than Les Snead of the Los Angeles Rams. This is the guy who wore a "(Expletive) them Picks" t-shirt to the Rams' victory parade after the team wore Super Bowl LVI.

That victory was engineered by the trade that sent Jared Goff, two first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford, But there were others—in fact, after taking Goff first overall in 2016, the Rams went seven straight years without a first-round pick before taking edge-rusher Jared Verse 19th overall in 2024. Those trades brought the likes of cornerback Jalen Ramsey and wide receiver Brandin Cooks to L.A., and Snead has already traded a first this year, sending No. 29 to the Kansas City Chiefs for cornerback Trent McDuffie.

That trade addressed the Rams' biggest need on defense. This deal would make the rams' defense abjectly terrifying.

Los Angeles already has a solid front-four in Verse and Young on the edge and Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner inside. The Rams logged 47 sacks last year—sixth-most in the NFL. But adding the NFL's best edge-rusher would take that defense to an entirely new level.

Given the tremendous attention that Garrett commands from opposing offenses (Per NFL Next Gen Stats, he was double-teamed or chipped on 186 pass-rushes last year, the most in the league since at least 2018), Verse, Fiske and Turner would be facing single-teams approximately all the time ever. The Rams don't like to blitz (only the Cincinnati Bengals had a lower blitz rate in 2025), and with Garrett coming off the edge, it would be that much easier to drop seven in coverage and just send four.

Given the improvements in the secondary, the Rams would have the best defense in the NFC—if not the entire NFL. And while trading an edge-rusher in his prime coming off a career-high 12 sacks would sting, Young is also entering the final year of his rookie deal and barreling toward an extension that could top $30 million a season.

Stafford isn't getting any younger. The Rams have a Super Bowl window, but it won't stay open that much longer. There isn't a team in the league that should be more inclined to live in the now. Be ultra-aggressive. Snead knows that.

For the Browns, it's the same haul the Dallas Cowboys got a year ago for Micah Parsons—a pair of first-rounders and a quality starter. Some will argue it's too much. Others will say it's too little. But it's realistically the best the Browns could likely get, and the Rams can offer something that other contenders cannot—a selection inside the top-15 this year. And while Young isn't Garrett, he's a Pro Bowl-caliber player in his own right.

This trade would leave the Browns with a trio of first-rounders in 2026—No. 6, No. 13 (from the Rams) and No. 24 (obtained from the Jacksonville Jaguars in last year's Travis Hunter deal).

Now let's see what kind of damage the team can do with all that draft capital.

2026 Post-Myles Garrett Trade Mock Draft

AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File

Ohio State WR Carnell Tate

1: Las Vegas Raiders – QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

2: New York Jets – EDGE Arvell Reese, Ohio State

3: Arizona Cardinals – OT Francis Mauigoa, Miami

4: Tennessee Titans – RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

5: New York Giants – LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State

6: Cleveland Browns – WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State

7: Washington Commanders – EDGE David Bailey, Texas Tech

8: New Orleans Saints – S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

9: Kansas City Chiefs – WR Makai Lemon, USC

10: Cincinnati Bengals – EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami

11: Miami Dolphins – CB Mansoor Delane, LSU

12: Dallas Cowboys – CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee

13: Cleveland Browns (from Los Angeles Rams via Atlanta) – OT Monroe Freeling, Georgia

14: Baltimore Ravens – IOL Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State

15: Tampa Bay Buccaneers – EDGE Akheem Mesidor, Miami

16: New York Jets (from Indianapolis) – WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State

17: Detroit Lions – OT Spencer Fano, Utah

18: Minnesota Vikings – S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

19: Carolina Panthers – TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon

20: Dallas Cowboys (from Green Bay) – EDGE T.J. Parker, Clemson

21: Pittsburgh Steelers – WR Omar Cooper Jr., Indiana

22: Los Angeles Chargers – DL Keldrick Faulk, Auburn

23: Philadelphia Eagles – OT Blake Miller, Clemson

24: Cleveland Browns (from Jacksonville) – CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson

25: Chicago Bears – OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama

26: Buffalo Bills – EDGE Cashius Howell, Texas A&M

27: San Francisco 49ers -- WR Kevin Concepcion, Texas A&M

28: Houston Texans – OT Caleb Lomu, Utah

29: Kansas City Chiefs (from Los Angeles Rams) – CB Chris Johnaon, San Diego State

30: Miami Dolphins (from Denver) – DL Peter Woods, Clemson

31: New England Patriots – LB C.J. Allen, Georgia

32: Seattle Seahawks – EDGE Zion Young, Missouri

1.06: WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State

AP Photo/Ryan Sun

The Browns have multiple needs on both sides of the ball, but perhaps none more so than at wide receiver. The team's leading pass-catcher in just about every major statistical category last year was rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr.

The Browns badly need a need a "go-to" wideout—and Jerry Jeudy doesn't appear to be that guy. However, Bleacher Report's Dame Parson thinks that Ohio State's Carnell Tate has the skill-set to be Cleveland's No. 1 receiver.

"Tate is a route-running technician and specializes in manipulating defensive backs," he wrote. "He runs every branch on the route tree. Tate's height and wingspan offer a quarterback-friendly target. He extends the catch point away from his frame and plucks the ball from the air. Tate is a bouncy athlete who can climb the ladder over defenders at the catch point. He has soft, reliable hands and excellent ball tracking skills."

1.13: OT Monroe Freeling, Georgia

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Cleveland took a buzzsaw to an aging offensive line this offseason. The Browns swung a deal with the Houston Texans for right tackle Tytus Howard and signed guard Zion Johnson and center Elgton Jenkins to lucrative contracts. But a gaping hole remains at left tackle.

As Jacob Roach wrote for Browns Wire, while Georgia's Monroe Freeling may not be a finished product, he's surging up draft boards and may be the best "true" left tackle prospect in his class.

"When you talk about guys with high upside and tools to be great players if they reach their full potential, Monroe Freeling would be at the top of that list," he said. "He's a fluid mover who is awesome in space and does a great job climbing to the second level as a blocker in the run game. Overall, he's a top-shelf athlete at the position with a massive wingspan of 84 inches. Freeling might be one of the better pass blockers in the entire class."

1.24: CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson

AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman

With the team's two biggest needs already addressed in this mock draft, the Browns have multiple options at No. 24 overall. The team could trade back (or out of Round 1 altogether) if another club wants to add a player with a fifth-year option—say a certain young quarterback from Alabama. Andrew Berry could go purely with the best player available. Or the team could continue adding potential impact players at areas of need.

Clemson's Avieon Terrell could be the best of both worlds in that regard—right now, third-year pro Myles Harden is penciled in as the team's slot cornerback after allowing a passer rating against of 120.0 last year, and Terrell is the third-ranked cornerback on Bleacher Report's latest 2026 NFL Draft Big Board.

"Terrell is an athletic, fluid mover with clean transitions and enough speed to stay in phase on most vertical routes," Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote. He's most effective in press-man coverage, where he mirrors releases with timing and discipline, staying crowded to the route. He concedes 50/50s to bigger targets at times, but is a constant catch irritant with good technique on all three levels. He can play wide or inside and is willing in run support, but he lacks ideal size. Terrell projects as an early starter thanks to his polish, ball skills and coverage versatility."

Three picks. Three starters. And three big steps forward for a team trying to climb back to respectability.