The Cleveland Browns are still searching for a new head coach. Beginning in March, they’ll be rebuilding their offensive line while at least partially remaking their wide receiver group and potentially adding another quarterback.
The Browns, who have won just eight games over the last two years, probably want a young, offensive-minded head coach to help shape a better future. But the current state of the offense doesn’t make the job especially appealing. The 2025 Browns ranked in the bottom five in scoring, total yards, yards per play, pass yards, yards per rush and interceptions per attempt.
Earlier this month, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam fired Kevin Stefanski after six years as head coach but decided to keep general manager Andrew Berry. Haslam publicly stated that Berry would lead the coaching search and be tasked with further replenishing the roster, specifically on the offensive side.
The 2025 Browns wasted a defense that was dominant at times and solid enough that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is a candidate to stay, either as the head coach or in the same role under a new coach.
After firing Stefanski, Haslam addressed reporters and tried to take responsibility. But he also gave Berry a public vote of confidence and pointed to the team’s 2025 draft class and other structural moves, such as October’s trade of pending free-agent cornerback Greg Newsome II for cornerback Tyson Campbell, as reasons for hope.
With the coaching search serving as the headliner, Haslam made clear he expects the Browns to continue finding the right people across multiple spots to spark a turnaround.
“I think (in 2025) we not only added … really good players, but also really good people,” Haslam said. “And I think that core that Andrew has put together this year will help move us forward. We hope to have similar (draft) results this coming year.
“The next 120 days are crucial for the organization. We’ve got to find the right head coach, we’ve got to be efficient again in free agency, we have 10 draft picks, including two No. 1s … and we’ve got to get really good players who are really good people again.
“We’ve got to be opportunistic if trade opportunities come along. We are solely focused on having a great 120 days so we can start winning games around here.”
By the time the Browns make their coaching hire, they’ll likely have around 90 days until the NFL Draft — and about 40 days until the start of the player movement period. As it stands, the Browns have 10 picks in this year’s draft, starting with two first-rounders, their own at No. 6 and the pick from last year’s Jacksonville trade at No. 24.
What are the landmarks, major events and decision deadlines along the way? Here’s the approximate 120-day roadmap as the wait for a new coach continues.
The first wave
Schwartz was first to have a second interview for the head coach job on Monday, and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken had his second interview on Tuesday.
The Browns cannot make a hire until they’ve held at least two in-person interviews with minority candidates as part of the NFL’s Rooney Rule, and fulfilling that got more complicated Tuesday when NFL Network reported that ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel canceled his Wednesday in-person interview with Cleveland. McDaniel will reportedly be hired by the Los Angeles Chargers as their offensive coordinator.
Of the nine candidates in the first wave of interviews, McDaniel and Schwartz were the only ones with previous NFL head-coaching experience.
Jim Schwartz, the Browns’ defensive coordinator since 2023, is in the mix to possibly become the team’s next head coach. (Jason Miller / Getty Images)
The Browns can’t host an in-person interview with Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase until after Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
The Browns are confirming interviews upon their completion. Though league sources confirmed to The Athletic that a second interview for Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski is in Cleveland’s plans, there was no finalized date as of Tuesday. Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter also could be scheduled for a second interview, though the McDaniel decision reinforced that changes or additions to the pending schedule remain possible, both this week and next.
Udinski, who turned 30 earlier this month, will become the youngest head coach in NFL history if he’s hired. The Browns were Udinski’s only reported head-coaching interview in the first two weeks of the cycle.
The Senior Bowl is next week: Monday is player measurement day and the start of team interviews. The Browns will still conduct at least one head-coaching interview next week, too. Once the hire is finalized, the new head coach will move quickly to finalize his staff.
The Browns will be well represented at Senior Bowl practices even if Berry is busy completing the coaching search. Both of his third-round picks last year, tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and quarterback Dillon Gabriel, competed there.
Interviews for coordinators are expected take place within 72 hours of the new coach’s hiring. If Schwartz isn’t named head coach but decides to stay on as defensive coordinator, expect to know who the new head coach is within a day or two of that.
The most extensive draft meetings to date take place in mid-February, usually starting just after the Super Bowl. In these meetings, teams begin the process of stacking their draft boards and identifying which prospects require more information, setting the stage for scheduling in-person interviews and finalizing grades once complete medical and personal information and athletic testing results become available.
The NFL Scouting Combine kicks off the week of Feb. 23, two weeks before the official start of the player movement period. Teams can talk trades and negotiate with their own free agents ahead of the start of the new league year — and a lot of NFL combine business involves these things — but March 9 is the first day teams can legally negotiate with outside free agents.
No trades or external free-agent signings can officially be processed until the start of the new league year on March 11.
What happens in March?
It will be another offseason of the Browns both wandering into a quarterback search on some level and dealing with Deshaun Watson’s contract. The most likely scenario is Cleveland keeping Watson in 2026. The Browns probably don’t have enough salary-cap flexibility to cut him and swallow a cap number of roughly $80 million, so the most feasible move is to restructure Watson’s deal and lower his cap number to around $39 million.
Earlier this month, Berry said he anticipates Watson will be on the team for the final year of his contract. The Browns head to next season with around $130 million in remaining cap commitments to Watson, and the latest anticipated restructure will move them under the cap for the start of the new league year.
Over the Cap estimates the cap for 2026 will be $295.5 million, and lists the Browns as needing a little over $36 million in space to become cap-compliant. The team will easily get there with the Watson move, some standard cuts and some other restructures or accelerations.
Before March 9, the Browns will also have to decide how to address over $40 million in dead money from offensive linemen eligible for free agency who likely won’t be back but still count against the cap from past contract accelerations and restructures. Because of the void years added in those accelerations, two departing free agents can get the post-June 1 designation and have their remaining dead money split over multiple years.
If guard Joel Bitonio chooses to retire, the dead $23 million remaining on his deal can be split over multiple seasons. Bitonio wasn’t ready to make any announcement in January, but has always pointed to early March to make a decision on his future. If he chooses to play a 13th NFL season, he’ll be eligible for free agency.
Assuming Watson is kept, the biggest potential dead money player for 2026, per Over the Cap, would be tight end David Njoku, who doesn’t have a contract but does have a cap number of $24.3 million.
The time between the end of the NFL combine and the start of free-agent negotiations is when teams begin finalizing their plans and focusing on a smaller group of targets. That will be especially important for the Browns given their cap situation. They have proven they’ll spend big and push money far into future seasons to chase players they really want, but they can’t move toward decisions in what looks to be a limited pool of quarterbacks until they have their coaching staff in place.
Berry’s past trades for Amari Cooper and Jerry Jeudy were agreed upon ahead of the start of the player-movement period. This year, any aggressive move for a clear-cut offensive starter — whether its trading for a quarterback or starting receiver, or preparing to chase a top-of-market player through free agency — would likely be a move the Browns decide to make between pre-combine draft meetings and post-combine finalization of free-agent priorities.
On the defensive side, linebacker Devin Bush, cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. and safety Ronnie Hickman are the top players eligible for free agency. Hickman is a restricted free agent, but because he entered the league as an undrafted rookie in 2023, the Browns would not be eligible for any compensation if they tender him as a restricted free agent another team signs him.
Bush just had his best season and is potentially in line for a big payday. If Schwartz is back — either as head coach or defensive coordinator — that probably increases the chances Bush will re-sign in Cleveland. The same might be true for Hickman and Emerson, who missed all of 2025 after tearing his Achilles last July.
A lot of offensive line decisions must be made with Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, Ethan Pocic, Cam Robinson, Teven Jenkins and Jack Conklin all eligible for free agency. The defense returns many key pieces, but Bush was valuable, and young depth is needed in the secondary.
Unless the new head coach and Berry believe Shedeur Sanders can use 2026 to really take off and become the team’s long-term starter, the Browns have to explore every possible quarterback scenario in the draft, free agency and potentially via trade. Last year’s draft-night trade with Jacksonville was made with the idea that the 2026 first-round pick Cleveland acquired could be used on a quarterback, but this year’s draft class seems thin on top-level passing prospects. Further evaluations and decisions will be made in the weeks ahead.
Last year’s Browns had a first-round pick for the first time since 2021. A group that usually included Berry, Haslam and Stefanski held private workouts with top quarterback prospects and traveled to multiple campuses to meet with top prospects at other positions and their families in the back half of March and early April. Last year, the Browns owned the No. 2 pick in the run-up to the draft, and it’s fair to assume they’ll proceed at least somewhat similarly in their final stages of planning for the No. 6 selection.
Haslam’s use of “120 days” was an estimate meant to signal that the Browns were undertaking an important four months. There are 111 days from the firing of Stefanski to the end of the draft. Unless there are surprise returns from some pending free agents, the process of adding to the offensive line won’t stop with the draft.
Maybe the Browns will choose continuity on their clear strongest side with Schwartz. Maybe they’ll choose youth in Udinski or Scheelhaase, a 35-year-old with just two seasons of NFL coaching experience. In any case, they’ll need to make the right decision and hope that Berry and his staff can deliver another strong draft.
A crucial period of change and opportunity is underway, even as the head coach’s office sits vacant.
