A Legacy In Full
Myles Garrett made NFL history last season with 23 sacks, the most in a single season. Now in Los Angeles after a blockbuster trade to the Rams, he has something bigger in mind: catching Bruce Smith.
"I don't know how much longer I want to play, but I know there's a big goal out there, that's 200," Garrett told the Rams' website.
The numbers are doing most of the announcement work here, which is usually how teams prefer it.
That number is the career sack record, held by the Pro Football Hall of Famer who spent 19 years in the league and hit 200 sacks in the second-to-last game of his career in 2003. The record has stood untouched for 23 years. No one has come close. Julius Peppers finished closest with 159.5 sacks in 2018.
The Numbers That Last
Garrett currently has 125.5 sacks, third among active players behind Von Miller (138.5) and Cameron Jordan (132). Miller is 37; Jordan turns 37 in July. Neither has a realistic shot at 200. Garrett does, which is exactly the problem.
He accumulated 124.5 sacks before turning 30, the most in NFL history—topping Reggie White's 108. At 30, pass rushers typically begin to decline. To catch Smith, Garrett needs at least 75 more sacks. Only five players in league history have recorded 75 sacks after age 30.
His contract runs five years. If he averages 14 sacks per season, he'd reach 195.5 by 2030, five short at age 35. Even at a reduced 10 per season, he'd finish at 175.5—still comfortably third all-time.
The Game That Followed
The path is theoretically clear. The execution is not guaranteed. Garrett knows this. "I want to eclipse that or I want to make it close," he said. "I have a good relationship with the guy who has that record and being able to go get that one would mean a lot to myself, and to him as well."
With a Rams defense that should play with leads and force opposing quarterbacks to throw, the opportunities will be there. The question is whether his body holds up long enough to make the math work.