Browns DC Jim Schwartz reportedly left the facility when he learned they passed him over for head coach, but will he return? Cleveland’s leaders aren’t talking about it right now, from the new head coach right up to the owner. The well-respected defensive play-caller is said to have told people he wants out, but he is still under contract. So how did the team handle it while introducing the man they passed him over for, Todd Monken?

“We think the world of Coach [Jim] Schwartz”, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said. “I think Jim and Jim’s future is a subject for another day”. He added in response to a separate inquiry, “Those conversations are ongoing. We’ll talk about that at a later day”.

And you’ll hear similar sentiments about Schwartz from GM Andrew Berry and Monken. “There will be a time for that. But this is not the setting”, Berry said. Contributed Monken, “I think it’s a little inappropriate for me to comment about that at this time”.

While Haslam’s little anecdote about ongoing conversations is notable, it doesn’t bring us any closer to clarity on whether Jim Schwartz will coach the Browns’ defense. What we do know is that the Browns still intend to run Schwartz’s defense, with or without him. And Monken very much believes they can run the system without him.

“First off, my anticipation is we’re not going to change the system”, Monken said, referring to the defense that Schwartz installed when the Browns brought him in in 2023. “I didn’t take this job because of Jim Schwartz, I have a lot of respect for Jim Schwartz, as I would hope he has for me. But … I didn’t think I’d say it, but I’m going to say it. When I was preparing for the Cleveland Browns, I wasn’t trying to chip Jim Schwartz, I was chipping Myles Garrett”.

Basically, Monken is saying that it’s Schwartz’s players that ultimately made his defense tick. And yes, it’s certainly a luxury to have Myles Garrett at your disposal, a shoo-in for his second Defensive Player of the Year Award after breaking the NFL sack record. But Schwartz has also done things with Garrett that his predecessors did not, so it’s not just about the players. I mean, he even helped make Devin Bush look like a starter again.

After coaching the defense for the past three seasons, Jim Schwartz was a strong candidate to replace Kevin Stefanski as the Browns’ next head coach this offseason. Nate Scheelhaase of the Rams was also in the mix, but Monken ultimately landed the job. Having spent the past few years as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, he did have some history in Cleveland.

I don’t know, quite frankly, what Schwartz’s options are if he doesn’t wish to remain with the Brown. Jimmy Haslam doesn’t have a great history of allowing people out of their contracts. And he has a contract, so if Cleveland wants to keep him, he has an obligation. For now, though, apparently, we can’t talk about it.