Myles Garrett’s 2026 is a study in how fast an NFL investment can get complicated. The Rams handed the Cleveland Browns a first-round pick, a second-round pick, a conditional third-round pick and rising edge rusher Jared Verse to acquire him on June 1. Days later, the two sides reworked his existing deal into a five-year, $208.2 million contract worth an average of $41.64 million a season, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Spotrac analyst Michael Ginnitti. On September 17, Los Angeles placed Garrett on injured reserve after arthroscopic knee surgery, ruling him out for at least four weeks following an underwhelming Week 1 showing in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Where Does Myles Garrett’s Money Actually Come From?
Garrett’s income is almost entirely contract-driven. His new Rams deal is backloaded by design: Pelissero and Spotrac’s Ginnitti reported his 2026 cap hit at just $8.9 million, even though his real cash compensation for the season is guaranteed at $37 million. The cap number climbs every year of the deal, topping out at a $48.2 million hit in 2030, with the contract also carrying eight void years that push additional money off the books for salary-cap purposes. That structure is what let a team that just surrendered three draft picks and a starting edge rusher still absorb Garrett’s price tag without blowing up its 2026 payroll. On top of the football money, Garrett has built a smaller but growing endorsement business — the type of income stream the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce has also leaned on to diversify beyond a single team’s guaranteed money.
How Myles Garrett Built His NFL Fortune
Cleveland made Garrett the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Texas A&M, and he spent nine seasons turning that selection into one of the most productive pass-rushing careers of his generation, collecting two Defensive Player of the Year awards and five All-Pro nods along the way. His rookie deal, a 2020 extension and a landmark four-year, $160 million contract signed with Cleveland in March 2025 — at the time, the richest annual salary ever given to a non-quarterback — pushed his career NFL earnings past $150 million before the Rams trade even happened. A further tweak to that deal’s language in March 2026 quietly opened the door to a trade, according to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson. That kind of sustained, top-of-market pay is unusual among defensive players and puts him in territory closer to what Donovan Mitchell built in Cleveland on the basketball side than to most of his fellow pass rushers. Independent estimates of Garrett’s total net worth vary widely — from roughly $15 million to $60 million, depending on the source — because unlike his NFL salary, which is documented in his contract, his off-field business ventures and investments are not publicly disclosed.
What’s Next for Myles Garrett’s Contract in 2026
The injury is the first real stress test of the Rams’ bet. Garrett is officially out for at least four weeks, and Los Angeles did not use a corresponding roster move to replace him, leaving the spot open in hopes he returns close to that timeline. None of that changes the guaranteed money already owed to him this season, but it does delay the payoff the Rams traded three draft picks to get. It is a reminder of how differently team-building risk plays out for pass rushers than for the quarterbacks who dominate the NFL’s biggest contract headlines — and how a single knee can complicate even a $208 million plan. If Garrett returns healthy in October and the Rams’ defense clicks the way it did on paper in June, the trade still looks like the move that got Los Angeles to a Super Bowl. If the knee lingers, it becomes the cautionary tale other front offices point to the next time a star gets dealt in his 30s.
