n a span of two hours, two of the elite teams in the NFL got even better.

The LA Rams, conducting business the way they always have under GM-Les Sneed, shipped out 3-more draft picks and a young pass rusher.

The New England Patriots reached back into Coach Mike Vrabel’s past, to get a difference maker playmaker.

And so the Rams become the favorite to be in the Super Bowl with the deal to bring in elite pass rusher Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, after adding star CB-Trent McDuffie from Kansas City earlier in the off season. Can you say loaded?

And the Patriots upgrade a new look offense with the acquisition of Eagles explosive wide receiver AJ Brown.

The Rams repeated history by moving a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick, plus young pass rusher Jared Verse,  to get Garrett, the NFL elite record setting pass rusher.  He broke the single season record last year with 23-sacks and now has a career mark 125-sacks, good enough for the Hall of Fame.

The Patriots moved 1st and 5th picks to get the 4X-1,000-yard receiver who wore out his welcome in Philadelphia, outbidding the Chiefs-Jaguars and others for the volatile yards after catch receiver.

The decision makers continue to be bold.  Sneed and the Rams have now shipped out 7-first round draft picks over recent years.  Howie Roseman continues to churn the Philly roster over on an annual basis.  Neither one has made mistakes.  Matthew Stafford, the Rams legendary QB, and big time RB-Saquon Barkley will attest to that.

Is there risk involved?  Sure.

The Rams, backs to the wall with super star salaries, take on 4-years and 96M left on the Browns contract.  Where cap space comes from in the future remains to be seen.  They have to deal with Matthew Stafford’s cap figure salaries (55M) for 2026-27, and then come up with a figure for star wide receiver Puka Nacua.

The Patriots believe they can control the explosive and sometimes surly Brown, who made big plays and made lots of controversial locker room comments too in Philly.  Vrabel had great influence in Brown’s younger years in Tennessee.  He is the best big play wideout they have had in years and would have been a difference maker in last year’s Super Bowl loss to Seattle.

For the Browns, it’s a continuation of the age old question, ‘why did you do that’?  A franchise that takes 2-years of salary cap hits to move Garrett.  A team that has two number ones next year, 11-draft picks in all, but no cap space, and no solution at quarterback, even with Deshaun Watson on the roster.  And of course there is the Shedeur Sanders aura.

The Eagles have brought in 5-wide receivers in the off season, led by ex Packer Romeo Doubs, but none equal the production Brown would bring to the stadium each Sunday, or the volatility he would bring to the post game locker room scrums with the press.

Nick Sirianni must have wanted him out of there really badly.

So it was a day of fireworks in the off season.  The Rams look complete.  The Patriots look more dangerous.  The Eagles sure look different.  The Browns look hopeless.

Interesting day in the NFL.

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