BEREA — There was a time where the Browns felt like a window of contention was opening up for them.
They had a talented group of young players they had drafted or acquired through trades. Those players became fan favorites as the Browns showed signs of progress, including a couple of actual playoff appearances.
However, that window gradually closed as player after player left, either by trade or free agency. The final, decisive blow came on June 1 when the Browns traded future Hall of Fame pass rusher Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for defensive end Jared Verse and three draft picks, including a 2027 first-round pick.
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General manager Andrew Berry said he understands the emotions that come with such departures. However, he also is a believer that the closing of one window merely allows for the opening of another.
“I think one of the toughest things in professional sports is when players who everyone knows their name locally leave, and new ones, that they don’t know the names of, take their roles,” Berry said June 2. “I think probably could have asked me the same question with Nick Chubb last year. And we saw Quinshon [Judkins] come in and make himself a household name in Northeast Ohio or David Njoku this year, and we have Harold Fannin.
“So I think that look, professional sports can be cyclical at times and that’s always tough in these moments. But we are really excited about a number of the players that we have in the locker room that I think our fans will either continue to get more familiarity with or gain familiarity with over the upcoming season.”
Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry on what LB Jared Verse brings to team
Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry talks about recently acquired LB Jared Verse and why he was the lynchpin of the team’s deal with the Rams.
The Browns have gone from a peak of two 11-win playoff seasons in a four-year stretch between 2020-23 to an 8-26 stretch the last two seasons. They jettisoned many of the most prominent faces from the “successful” years ― which, in context with the post-1999 expansion era, really could be seen as relative halcyon days ― and mostly replaced them with faces that are younger, except for their 60-year-old first-time head coach Todd Monken.
That head coach, though, was hired thinking he was going to be coaching a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-Pro in Garrett. Instead, his “star” edge rusher will be a 25-year-old Verse, who is one of just nine players since 2000 to be both NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowler in his first two seasons.
“Todd was excited in terms of the deal,” Berry said. “He understood the short- and long-term benefits. Again, it’s not about not wanting a Myles Garrett on your team, but he’s very excited to have Jared. He’s very excited to have the additional resources.
“Todd’s really smart. He understands the short- and long-term ramifications and I think one of the things that’s unique about this deal relative to maybe the other non-QB superstar deals that come out is that we made a trade with, I guess, multiple players and picks and usually when you make these trades, you’re completely trading off present for future, and to get a player like Jared in the deal, where the defense still maintains its excellence, that was really attractive to us.”
The other players on that list are Sauce Gardner, Micah Parsons, Marcus Peters, Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Patrick Willis, Shawne Merriman and Brian Urlacher. That list includes two Hall of Famers (Willis, Urlacher), at least two future Hall of Famers (Donald, Miller) and players like Parsons and Gardner who are still in the process of building up what have been elite careers.
Verse has recorded 12 career regular-season and five career playoff sacks so far. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s had 189 combined regular-season and playoff pressures in two seasons.
Obviously, those aren’t Myles Garrett-level numbers, but not even Berry is pretending like Verse is the next Myles Garrett. The sale is the belief that what Verse has shown in his first two seasons is merely scratching the surface on what the future could hold.
“Absolutely,” Berry said. “I wouldn’t sit here and put a cap on any player’s ceiling. I just know the list of players that have been Defensive Rookie of the Year and original-ballot Pro Bowlers in their first two seasons is very small.”
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The question will be how much this specific trade leads to the Browns’ win total in 2026 being very small. Garrett anchoring the defense has led to a pair of top-five finishes in the last three seasons, albeit with a different defensive coordinator in Jim Schwartz instead of Mike Rutenberg.
Now, with Garrett chasing a Super Bowl championship in Los Angeles, Verse’s success is going to be measured, for better or worse, by how well the Browns’ defense performs with him now as the “big-named” pass rusher.
Berry’s belief rests in a confidence that, despite trading away a generational player, it’s not going to lead to a total collapse. It’s also going to take a level of connection between the new addition and his new organization to make it happen.
“Myles, look, we’ve known him since he’s 21 years old coming out of Texas A&M,” Berry said. “We’ve seen him grow up here and everything like that and he’s accomplished really great things for us on the field, and so there’s always an emotional tie for someone who’s going to be one of the franchise greats, so certainly understand that. … We’re really excited about Jared, we’re really excited about this defense. I know Monk’s really excited about bringing Jared into the organization, but everything’s still right in front of us in terms of that regard.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at http://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
