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.
Browns Clips
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.
The Browns hired Mike Rutenberg as their defensive coordinator this week and Rutenberg got a rave review from Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on his way out the door in Atlanta.
Rutenberg was the defensive pass game coordinator in Atlanta last season and he spent the previous four seasons as the linebackers coach for the Jets. Ulbrich was the defensive coordinator there as well and Ulbrich lavished praise on Rutenberg when asked about his longtime colleague at a press conference last week.
“He’s one of the best teachers in this league,” Ulbrich said, via Josh Kendall of TheAthletic.com. “He understands the back end at a PhD-plus level. He’s a huge part of our success back there. Whether he gets a coordinator job this season or next, it’s inevitable. He’s too good a coach.”
The Browns job is Rutenberg’s first shot at being a coordinator and success in Cleveland could set him up to rise even higher up the coaching ladder in the years to come.
Browns safety Ronnie Hickman was jumped by four men in a lobby of a Manhattan hotel early Monday morning, the New York Post reports.
Hickman, 24, was approached in the lobby of the SIXTY LES at 4:30 a.m. Monday by a group who may have identified him as an NFL player, the newspaper reports. The confrontation turned physical, with the brawl leaving Hickman with minor injuries.
He was was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition before being released.
The suspects fled before police arrived, and no one has been arrested.
The Browns confirmed to The Post that Hickman was a “victim of assault” and is now “home resting with his family.”
Hickman joined the Browns in 2023 after going undrafted, and he made 103 tackles and two interceptions in 2025.
After the resignation of Jim Schwartz, the Browns have found their next defensive coordinator.
According to multiple reports, the club is hiring Falcons defensive passing game coordinator Mike Rutenberg for the role.
Rutenberg, 44, was set to continue on the Falcons’ staff in 2026 with retained defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich after Atlanta hired Kevin Stefanski as head coach. Now Rutenberg will head to Cleveland, where he will work under Stefanski’s replacement, new head coach Todd Monken.
Rutenberg spent 2013-2019 as a defensive assistant for the Jaguars, serving as assistant linebackers coach for his last two years with the club. He was hired as a passing game specialist for the 49ers in 2020 before heading to the Jets with former head coach Robert Saleh as the club’s linebackers coach from 2021-2024. He then followed Ulbrich to the Falcons in 2025.
Monken has said he would like the Browns to retain the same scheme that Schwartz ran, given its effectiveness. But with Rutenberg as the hire instead of someone internal, there may be some philosophical shifts to come.
Former NFL offensive lineman Tre’ Johnson has died. He was 54.
Via ESPN.com, Johnson’s wife announced his passing in a Facebook post.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that my husband, Tre’ Johnson, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly ... during a brief family trip,” Irene Johnson wrote. “His four children, Chloe, EJ, EZ and Eden, extended family, friends, and I are devastated and in shock.”
A second-round pick of Washington in 1994, Johnson spent nine seasons in the NFL. He played his first seven years with Washington and one with the Browns before returning to Washington for 2002, his last year in the league.
In 1999, Johnson was a Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro. He appeared in 93 regular-season games with 72 starts.
We extend our condolences to Johnson’s family, friends, teammates, and colleagues.
The Browns have narrowed their search for a new defensive coordinator to replace Jim Schwartz.
Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports that the Browns are choosing among Texans passing game coordinator Cory Undlin, Browns linebackers coach Jason Tarver and Falcons passing game coordinator Mike Rutenberg.
Undlin and Rutenberg interviewed in person this weekend.
Undlin and Tarver have NFL coordinator experience, and both coaches have extensive experience working under Schwartz. That would allow the Browns to keep a successful system in place.
Undlin served as defensive coordinator of the Lions in 2020, and Tarver was defensive coordinator of the Raiders from 2012-14.
Tarver has worked as the Browns’ linebackers coach the past six seasons, including the past three under Schwartz, and Undlin worked under Schwartz from 2016-19 in Philadelphia. Undlin has spent the past three seasons as the Texans’ passing game coordinator.
Rutenberg became the Falcons’ defensive pass game coordinator in 2025 after four seasons as linebackers coach for the Jets.
