The Browns have a new head coach and defensive coordinator for the 2026 season, but linebacker Carson Schwesinger isn’t expecting things to look much different on his side of the ball.
Jim Schwartz led a defense that allowed the fourth-fewest yards in the league in 2025 while helping Schwesinger win defensive rookie of the year and Myles Garrett win defensive player of the year, but left the team after they opted to hire Todd Monken as their head coach instead of promoting him to that job. Mike Rutenberg is now running the defense and Schwesinger said on NFL Network that he believes things will be remaining pretty much the same in terms of how Cleveland’s defense will be deployed.
“One of the big things for us is we wanted to keep a lot of the scheme the same,” Schwesinger said Friday. “So in terms of that, I don’t expect there to be a lot of changes. For me, I’m just ready to go in there and kind of just build off what we did last year and really keep the defense rolling and get in there ready to work and learn whatever I’ve got to learn now and keep doing what we were doing.”
The defense wasn’t enough to help the Browns avoid a 5-12 record in 2025 and it sounds like the bigger focus this offseason will be improving the offense that stymied the team so often last year.
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Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has not played since suffering a neck injury in October 2024 and it is reportedly a long shot that he’ll be able to get back on the field in the future.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that it is “doubtful at best” that Owusu-Koramoah will ever play again. Owusu-Koramoah was immobilized and placed on a back board after a collision with Ravens running back Derrick Henry and then taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
Owusu-Koramoah spent all of last season on the physically unable to perform list. When he was ruled out for the year, Owusu-Koramoah said in a statement that he doesn’t “know what’s next, but I’ll continue trusting my medical team, serving the community, and backing my brothers on the field.”
Owusu-Koramoah was a 2021 second-round pick in Cleveland. He has 308 tackles, eight sacks, three interceptions, and six forced fumbles in 49 career games.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett now holds the single-season sack record. He now has a bigger goal.
In a recent interview with Casino Guru News, Garrett said he wants to break the all-time sack record.
“I’m going to take that down, and prefer that I take it down here in the next five years,” Garrett said. “That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get. That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Through nine seasons, Garrett has 125.5 sacks. He’s had at least 10 sacks for eight straight seasons.
Garrett needs 75 sacks to break Bruce Smith’s record of 200. (Sacks first became an individual stat in 1982.) Garrett is currently tied for 20th, with Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney. Garrett is third among all active players, behind Von Miller and Cam Jordan. (Both had a six-year head start on Garrett.)
It’s doable. Garrett has 83 sacks over the last five years, an average of 16.6 per season. He needs to average 15 over the next five to make it happen.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield added some spice to his team’s rivalry with the Falcons when Kevin Stefanski became Atlanta’s head coach, making clear that he still has hard feelings about the way his time with Stefanski in Cleveland ended. But now Mayfield is downplaying any issue with Stefanski.
“There’s stuff there, but it’s not like it’s beef,” Mayfield said in a Super Bowl interview with Sports Illustrated, via NFL.com. “We’ve worked together, anytime you know somebody, you want to beat them whether it’s a good or bad relationship.”
Mayfield said that if there’s extra motivation to beat the Falcons, it’s because the Buccaneers want to get back on top in the NFC South, not because Stefanski is the Falcons’ coach.
“Not a revenge game of a sense of Atlanta, but we lost the division for the first time since four or five years, so, any divisional game will be a revenge game, I guess,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield has had a lot more success than Stefanski since the two of them parted, and Mayfield knows beating Stefanski on the field will mean more than any words he can say.
Every year, the coaching carousel spins first. Then, the quarterback carousel whirls.
It’s coming soon. Veteran quarterbacks will be cut, traded, signed. Teams will reshuffle their depth charts with changes at the most important position on the team.
In a recent item about the potential contract prospects of Packers (for now) backup Malik Willis, some of the veteran options were listed. Here’s a look at the various teams that will have decisions to make regarding veteran quarterbacks currently on the roster, or to be added once the new league year begins.
Dolphins: They have a decision to make about Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins owe him $54 million in 2026. The two-year (or one-year, if they choose to rip the Band-Aid in one motion) dead-cap charge for cutting Tua would be $99.2 million. They need to decide what to do with Tua, and whether to add a veteran — like Willis. They’d surely love to find a way to trade Tua, even if it means selling some of the cap charge to another team by attaching a draft pick to Tua’s contract. And since they owe him every penny of his 2026 pay, they could choose to keep him around. (That would fully guarantee another $3 million for 2027, however.)
Jets: Justin Fields likely will be cut. Half of his $20 million salary for 2026 is fully guaranteed. They’ll likely be looking for a veteran, possibly on a short-term basis, to run new coordinator Frank Reich’s offense.
Steelers: They’re willing to wait for Aaron Rodgers, which would take them out of play for a veteran in the early days of free agency. Willis or Cousins could be intriguing options, if they find out before March 11 that Rodgers won’t be returning.
Browns: Who knows what they’ll do? Deshaun Watson is under contract for another year, at $46 million. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are, too. Will the new half-regime led by coach Todd Monken want a veteran from the outside?
Ravens: In the unlikely event the Ravens trade Lamar Jackson, they’d need a new quarterback — presumably one with starting experience.
Colts: Daniel Jones, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, likely will be back. Anthony Richardson has one year left on his rookie deal; he’s under contract for 2026 at guaranteed pay of $5.385 million. If Jones leaves, the Colts would need another veteran.
Raiders: They owe Geno Smith $18.5 million for 2026. Another $8 million becomes fully guaranteed on March 13. Would someone trade for him at $26.5 million? He could be cut. The Raiders also could keep him as the bridge to Fernando Mendoza, if they make him the first overall pick.
Vikings: They want a veteran who’ll compete with J.J. McCarthy. That could make it harder to attract a veteran who’ll want a commitment that he’ll be QB1. Based on McCarthy’s performance and durability in 2025, however, most veteran quarterbacks with reasonable confidence would believe they can win a fair and square competition. If they believe the competition will be both fair and square.
Falcons: They haven’t committed to Michael Penix Jr. being the Week 1 starter, and for good reason. Penix is recovering from his latest ACL tear. Cousins could, in theory, return after being released. That seems unlikely. Another veteran is possible for the new-look football operation led by Matt Ryan, Ian Cunningham, and Kevin Stefanski.
Cardinals: The moment Kyler Murray was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury that was supposedly healing, the message was clear — it’s over for Murray in Arizona. The Cardinals owe him $36.8 million for 2026, with another $22.55 million in 2026 pay and 2027 salary hitting the books early in the 2026 league year. If not traded, he’ll be cut. Willis could be an option for the Cardinals. Rodgers potentially could be a target, too.
With the Scouting Combine beginning soon, the carousel will start moving. Coaches and General Managers who take the podium on Tuesday or Wednesday will be asked pointed questions. Agents will meet with teams.
The Browns officially named three key members of head coach Todd Monken’s first coaching staff on Friday.
They have hired offensive coordinator Travis Switzer, defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, and special teams coordinator Byron Storer.
Switzer worked under Monken in Baltimore as the Ravens’ run game coordinator. He spent the last three years in that role and was on Baltimore’s staff for nine years in total.
Rutenberg was the defensive pass game coordinator in Atlanta last year. He was the Jets’ linebackers coach for the previous four seasons.
Storer was an assistant special teams coach for the Packers the last four years. He has also worked for the Raiders, Buccaneers, and Chargers.
After selecting Mike Rutenberg to be the team’s next defensive coordinator, the Browns have promoted two more defensive assistants.
According to multiple reports, Linebackers coach Jason Tarver, who was a finalist for defensive coordinator, has been promoted to defensive run game coordinator. He will continue as the team’s linebackers coach.
Safeties coach Ephraim Banda has been promoted to defensive passing game coordinator.
Tarver has been with the Browns as linebackers coach since former head coach Kevin Stefanski was hired in 2020.
Banda joined Cleveland’s defensive staff in 2023, when former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz arrived.
As was previously reported, the club has also promoted Brandon Lynch to defensive backs coach and pass game specialist.
New head coach Todd Monken said he didn’t intend to change much about the club’s defensive scheme, even without Schwartz staying on as coordinator. These promotions should help keep continuity.
The Browns have promoted Brandon Lynch, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports. Lynch will serve as the team’s defensive backs coach and pass game specialist.
Lynch drew interest from other teams, per Jones, but new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg made keeping Lynch a priority. He becomes Rutenberg’s first hire. Rutenberg held the title of pass game specialist under Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich before becoming a coordinator.
Lynch joined the Browns in 2020 as assistant defensive backs coach. He earned a promotion to cornerbacks coach in 2023 and had held that position until his new title this week.
Lynch’s only other NFL experience came in Minnesota when he was the Bill Walsh minority intern in 2013.
Veteran guard Wyatt Teller is prepared to move on to a new team in free agency next month.
Teller and his wife posted a farewell message to Cleveland on social media Wednesday. Teller, who played out the final season of his contract in 2025, wrote that “I wish things were different and this is hard to put into words” to open the post.
Teller was a fifth-round pick of the Bills in 2018 and he was traded to the Browns the next year. He’s started 97 regular season and playoff games for Cleveland since joining the team.
The Browns are also waiting to hear about Joel Bitonio’s plans for 2026 and reserve Teven Jenkins is also on track for free agency, so there will be changes on the interior of the offensive line in Cleveland ahead of Todd Monken’s first season as the head coach.
Left guard Joel Bitonio hasn’t announced whether he plans to play in 2026 or not, but he has more time to make that decision before the Browns would face any salary cap ramifications related to his decision.
Jason Lloyd of TheAthletic.com reports that Bitonio and the team have agreed to push the void date of his current contract to just before the start of the 2026 league year in March. The contract was set to void on Monday.
The Browns would incur over $23 million of dead money on their 2026 cap if the contract does void. The extra time allows for the possibility of Bitonio signing an extension with the team that would allow them to avoid that penalty.
Bitonio contemplated retirement after the 2024 season before returning in hopes of going out on a “higher note.” Bitonio continued to play well, but the Browns were 5-12 to finish at the bottom of the AFC North once again.
