How June 1 turned into a blockbuster trade day in the NFL - ESPN

Leave it to the NFL to turn a day long known in league circles for accounting into one teeming with tension — and a manifestation of Super Bowl hopes for multiple teams spread from coast to coast.

At 4:01 p.m. ET on June 1 every year, NFL teams can prorate the dead salary cap hit of a player's contract over two years if trading or cutting that player.

This year's date fell on a Monday. But this was hardly a routine start to an offseason week, thanks to back-to-back blockbuster trades consummated hours apart: One expected for months and one that sent shock waves through the league.

The Los Angeles Rams were at center stage… again. They've made massive deals for the likes of Von Miller, Matthew Stafford and Trent McDuffie, and their latest move might be the biggest.

General manager Les Snead, known as one of the league's most aggressive trade snipers, was savoring the moment last Monday. The Rams were about to finalize the trade for surefire Hall of Famer Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. While waiting to connect with Garrett later that day, Snead contemplated during a quiet moment at his office, as months of legwork culminated in a stark realization:

«We just got the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year,» Snead recalled his thinking in the moment to ESPN. «And really it's about how someone has to affect the game on Sundays to win that award.»

While the Rams had kept their plans with Cleveland under wraps, the New England Patriots were long attached to a trade for Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brown that would finalize shortly after 4 p.m. ET. Patriots headquarters were business-like that day, but one team source couldn't help but think of his coach, Mike Vrabel, who got the player he coveted.

"[Brown's]