The Cleveland Browns wanted Jim Schwartz to remain their defensive coordinator under recently hired head coach Todd Monken, but Schwartz ultimately resigned from his role after he failed to receive the head-coaching job.
On Monday, reports confirmed that the Browns have selected Atlanta Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg to serve as Schwartz’s replacement. During the latest edition of the “Orange and Brown Talk Podcast,” Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer spoke about the first task Rutenberg should embrace in his new role.
Mike Rutenberg’s first win or loss with Browns won’t be related to a game
“The No. 1 person that you kind of have to worry about is Myles Garrett, because we know how Myles Garrett felt about Jim Schwartz,” Cabot explained. “I think that that’s probably one of the things that Mike Rutenberg is probably going to have to figure out early on. You’ve got to get Myles on board with the program, and if you do that, then everything will kind of flow from there.”
Garrett went public with a trade request in February 2025, but he later signed
a four-year, $160M contract extension that included $123.5M guaranteed and a no-trade clause to stay with the Browns. While Cleveland finished the 2025 campaign with a record of 5-12, Garrett won his second Defensive Player of the Year Award after he set a new official single-season record of 23 sacks.
Garrett’s deal reportedly is tradable, and there’s plenty of time between now and the opening night of the 2026 NFL Draft for the 30-year-old to send “come get me” messages to would-be buyers.
Will Mike Rutenberg fully understand the Myles Garrett assignment?
“Jim Schwartz knew that Myles Garrett was to be taken care of and that whatever you had to do to make sure that Myles Garrett was able to maximize his potential and dominate and take over games and get to the quarterback, Jim was about that,” Cabot added. “[Rutenberg] needs to understand the assignment, and I think he will. Why not? Why wouldn’t you want to get the absolute most out of arguably the best defensive player in the NFL and one of the best pass-rushers of all time?”
In short, it sounds like Rutenberg and Garrett should and will have some noteworthy conversations before the Browns officially open springtime workouts.
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