Jared Verse admits he was upset after the Rams traded him to Cleveland

Jared Verse's family is from Dayton, Ohio, and his older sister still lives there and will be around, so the trade that sent Verse to the Cleveland Browns comes with benefits. But let's not pretend, going from the Los Angeles Rams to the Browns was not welcome news for the Verse.

“I was upset for a little while,” Verse said when he met with local reporters at the Brown Center on Wednesday.

It is understandable.

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That's because going from the Rams, a Super Bowl contender, to the Browns, a team fighting to finish last in the AFC North, won't feel immediately dramatic. The proverbial journey from the penthouse to the outhouse.

“Yes, I was surprised,” continued Vesi. “I loved L.A. I loved the coaches, the organization, the teammates, everybody a part of it, the staff, the fans. You know, I loved the whole vibe of L.A., Los Angeles, the Rams, and it was annoying.”

This is a player who shows no weakness on the field to be vulnerable in front of strangers.

And there really shouldn't be any judgment here because we get it. We've seen it before.

Jared Goff helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl in February of 2019. So he thought he was building a life with that group. But two years later, he was traded to the Detroit Lions for an older, more successful Matthew Stafford.

Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions celebrates a touchdown during an NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., on Sept. 22, 2025. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

The wind blows.

And like the Goff-Stafford deal, we're talking about moving from Gucci leather belts to Rust Belts. Because Cleveland is a great city and all, but the weather doesn't compare to Los Angeles. And the vibe of a 25-year-old with a lot of money is clearly not the same, either.

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Then there are the prospects for next season. Verse was mentally prepared to take it back with a good team until the trade. The Rams had a 12-5 record last season and reached the NFC Championship game. The Browns were 5-12 and reached a coaching change.

But the job, one thinks, of being a professional athlete is to understand that your team is your workplace. It's your business, not your family.

Most teams tell players they are part of the family but when was the last time a family traded a son or brother?

Verse gets that now.

“If you are an athlete, you understand the nature of the business,” he said. “Everybody does what they think is best for their business, and that's the situation I'm in. I'm glad to be a part of the Browns. I'm glad they believed in me and were able to make that trade to bring me here, to have my teammates, to have everybody here.

“And I believe in everybody in the locker room. But it was annoying at first. But then you got two choices: You can work or you can quit, and I never quit.”

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Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett warms up before the NFL Week 10 game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, Nov. 9, 2025. (MAGN)

The impressive aspect of the Browns trading Myles Garrett for Verse, a first-round pick in 2027, a second-round pick in 2028 and a third-round pick in 2029 is that they held out until the Rams added Verse to the deal. Until then, the deal was a trade for Garrett's compensation that Cleveland didn't want to make.

“I always thought to myself that if we were ever in a situation where we were going to trade Myles, three things would have to be true,” said Browns Vice President and General Manager Andrew Berry. “Number one, it will have to have short-term and long-term benefits. Number two, as part of the trade, a little cost control star in the premium area will have to be included. The third piece is that there will have to be a premium head.

“And there's a very small set of deals that really satisfy those criteria. So, when it came to a point in our discussions with the Rams, where all those things were satisfied, it really made us take a step back and really think about the decision.

“Jared Verse, you are obviously a big part of this return to us.”

This is good for Verse. He is in a team that wants him and is very compatible with his work. He is on his first contract through the 2027 season. And he is in a team that is building a bright future in maybe two or three years.

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The Rams are in winning mode now. They're stacking their roster with high-priced veterans and two or three years from now they could be in rebuilding mode.

So maybe a move that Vesi doesn't like at first can work better for her.

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