Funny thing about my way to work yesterday morning. I was talking with a pal during the commute about the idea of the Seahawks trading for All Pro defensive end Myles Garrett, and what the reaction would likely be for Rams and 49ers fans if such a deal was managed. We both concurred that it would be the most terrifying prospect imaginable for him to be added to Mike Macdonald’s already elite Dark Side defense.

In the next breath, I said that I would absolutely horrified if he ever ended up with the Rams or the 49ers.

Damn. Funny how yesterday started out with this conversation, and then sure enough, a couple hours later, my smart phone was blowing up with the news that the Rams pulled off a trade for him.

Before this trade happened, I believed it was debatable who should be considered a better contender between the Rams and Seahawks in the NFC. The Rams did a great job fixing the needy area of their secondary with free agency and a big trade, but I thought their draft was odd. The Seahawks, on the other hand, stayed quiet in free agency, but used the draft brilliantly to fill their one big need at running back, and then to further bolster their already strong young secondary. One could argue that the young roster that just won a Super Bowl gotten stronger at a clear area of strength, and perhaps they replaced a good running back with one who will be equally good, if not better.

Now that the Rams pulled off this massive move for Myles Garrett, however, I concede that they should be viewed as the heavy favorites to not only win the NFC but win the next Super Bowl. This is how they should be properly viewed by NFL pundits across the land.

The Rams watched, as we all did, the Seahawks step onto 49er turf in Santa Clara during Super Bowl LX, and wallop the under matched New England Patriots. They could sense, as we all could, how sour of a taste it was in the mouths of the 49er Faithful on that day, and they did not want the fans of LA to taste that awfulness this year as their stadium hosts the Super Bowl. Hell no. They properly did what they needed to do to prevent that.

Garrett is, unquestionably, the best defensive player in football right now. He is a proper game wrecking defensive end who is still very much in his prime even at age 30, and he will be heading to LA with very mean intentions of gathering a Super Bowl ring or two after his years of being stuck in Cleveland.

Can teams like Seattle, San Fransisco, Philadelphia, and others give the Rams a proper fight this year? If all goes right in the battle of NFL attrition, they absolutely can, but on paper, the LA Rams are now the proper NFC team to beat. This is the facts, Jack.

I have to say that I have some further feelings about this deal that land kinda mixed. I hate the fact that the Rams ended up with the best pass rusher in the game, but I commend them for this aggressive move. They didn’t want to see any prospects of the Seahawks or 49ers playing in a Super Bowl in their stadium this year, and they have done everything they could this offseason to give them their best shot at preventing either scenario from happening. They are not a team that is going to F’ around chasing after another ring with an aging quarterback still playing in his prime. They want to get him another one.

The Rams now currently possess possibly the best quarterback in the game, the best offensive play calling head coach, and they have now added the best overall defensive player to their roster. If they do not win the Super Bowl this year, it won’t be for lack of front office effort, or lack of talent on the field. It would probably be because some other team got that much hotter and better, for whatever reason, and maybe injuries at a few key positions finally got up to them.

From a Seahawks fan perspective, initially I was very disappointed that Seattle wasn’t able to make a similar push for Garrett. Sending a 2027 first round pick, a 2028 second round pick, a 2029 third round pick, and talented young edge rusher Jared Verse to Cleveland for him seems like a reasonable deal. I would have thought the cost would have been steeper despite the fact Garrett will be 31 years old later this year.

The more this move settled in with me, however, and the more I started to realize that Seattle would have likely had to have given up a talented player like Devon Witherspoon, or Byron Murphy, or Nick Emmanwori plus similar picks to go get him, themselves. With the dust settling upon that realization, the more I was okay with Seattle not making that sort of push for him. I want these sorta talented young guys on the roster long term together. They feel like the core to further build around on defense.

In terms of what I think Seattle does next to counter, I am not sure that they will do that much. I am not anticipating that they will suddenly go after Maxx Crosby in Vegas. They had an opportunity to offer something similar to what Baltimore initially did a couple months ago before they reneged on the trade and sent him back to Vegas, but they chose not to dance. Now it feels like Crosby has made peace with the fact he remains a Raider, and is ready to recommit to the team that drafted him.

My sense with Seattle is that their priority is to commit to players on this roster that just helped them win Super Bowl LX. They appear determined to make Devon Witherspoon a top paid cornerback, and they will also have contract extensions looming for defensive tackle Byron Murphy, Sam Darnold, AJ Barner, and others right around the corner, as well.

Truthfully, I think they might be more keen towards extending Big Cat Williams for a few more years, and keeping their star veteran defensive tackle around longer than going after another high profile veteran defensive lineman via trade or free agency. If Big Cat wants to continue playing a while longer with a chance at another ring, nobody on the defensive line makes a bigger impact on the game than he does, and he feels like a heart and soul player who dads will point towards and tell their sons to be like as a player and person. Culturally, he is the perfect fit for what Seattle wants every bit as much as what he offers performance wise.

I suspect that they will try to get an extension with Derick Hall, as well. It is easy to parse the words of Mike Macdonald and determine that Hall is a young player that he values. He plays the run well on the edges, and he offers great hustle as a rusher. I think there is no player on the defense who stands to take a bigger step forward than Hall does this year in his contract year off his rookie contract. He has been patiently waiting in the wings for a while, and 2026 might finally be his year to truly shine. With Garrrett now in LA, the Seahawks will need this out of him.

If Seattle was somewhat in the market for Garrett, and for whatever reason, chose not stay in pursuit, I do think there is now somewhat of a greater chance they could make one more little splash in free agency to add another piece to their pass rush. The Dante Fowler signing wasn’t very expensive, and they have available cap space to add a Joey Bosa, or a Jadeveon Clowney type. It is debatable if either player is a great culture fit for what Macdonald has built up in Seattle, but it feels like both would fit his scheme, and Clowney has played for him before in Baltimore.

Then there rests the trade market, and what might remain available. There has been some talk that they might be open to adding Kayvon Thibodeaux in his contract year with all the edge rush talent the Giants now have. I don’t know if he’s an ideal culture fit, but I suspect he’d fit this scheme pretty well. If things go rough in Vegas during the first half of the coming season, maybe they would revisit trading Crosby again, and John Schneider would be more than eager to pounce.

The Seahawks and Rams will not be playing each other until weeks 16 and 18 of this season. The NFL was very intentional of their scheduling between these two teams, and they wanted all the marbles of both teams to come down in the final weeks for must see television events.

The Rams have taken their best swings at fortifying their roster for these matchups. Now the ball is in Seattle’s court to see if there is a way or two to match between now and the midseason trade deadline that Schneider so often uses. A lot can happen between now and then. We shall see.

Go Hawks.