Overview
- Jim Schwartz said he resigned after being passed over for the Browns head‑coach job and explained on the Ryan Ripken Show that staying would have been a 'forced marriage' that left him unable to lead the locker room, a decision he discussed on Tuesday.
- Schwartz will sit out the 2026 season because he resigned rather than remain as defensive coordinator under Todd Monken.
- The Browns traded franchise pass rusher Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams and received Jared Verse in the deal, and Monken has said he was never assured Garrett would remain when he accepted the job.
- Cleveland has installed Mike Rutenberg as defensive coordinator to run the defense under Monken, a change that tests whether the team can sustain top‑level performance without Schwartz and Garrett.
- Schwartz built one of the NFL’s best defenses in three seasons, helping Garrett win multiple Defensive Player of the Year honors and set a single‑season sack record, so his departure marks a clear shift in the organization’s coaching and roster priorities and will affect player alignments and leadership inside the team.