Jimmy Haslam: Myles Garrett ‘will come in here and break the sack record again’ despite dismay over DC Jim Schwartz

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns aren’t worried about Myles Garrett asking to be traded again even though he seemingly expressed dismay over the possible loss of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

“Listen, I love Myles, okay?” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said after coach Todd Monken’s introductory press conference. “I haven’t talked to him since the day after the season, but I’m highly confident Myles will come in here and break the sack record again and be the Defensive Player (of the Year). He hasn’t been named it (yet), but I’ll be shocked if he isn’t and will be a leader of our team.”

The day Jim Schwartz packed up his office and left the building after being passed over in favor of Monken, Garrett posted a photo on his Instagram story of a fast food worker sitting on a bench and hanging their head. It wasn’t captioned, but it seemed to be a reaction to his beloved coordinator possibly being gone for good.

Monken revealed on Tuesday that he’s talked to Schwartz, but declined to say if he’s coming back. Haslam said the situation “is ongoing. We’ll talk about that at a later day. Today is to introduce Todd Monken as the new head coach.”

Browns general manager Andrew Berry also said he’s confident Garrett will be on board with Monken and his plan.

“We kept Myles abreast the process throughout,” he said. “So obviously he knew the news before you all did. So Myles is a great team player and I’m not really worried about that.”

Monken said he admired Garrett when he was in 2019 as offensive coordinator under Freddie Kitchens.

“When I was here for that short period, I would say that I didn’t know Myles very well, other than I loved his personality, I loved his charisma,” Monken said. “I mean, always a smile on his face. At that time I thought, ‘holy cow, this guy runs like a wideout, this guy looks like a skill player.’ This guy is elite, and he’s always had it in him. But you can just see the last few years that his evolution, in terms of blocking schemes, how teams try to prevent him from getting to the quarterback, which opens up opportunities for others.

“I think his awareness of what teams are trying to do…I think they’ve done a great job of moving him around because that’s important. That definitely gets into a coordinator’s head in game planning of where he’s located. You can see with every team that plays against Myles.”

Monken also emphasized that he’s not changing the attacking 4-3 scheme that Schwartz installed in 2023. It features primarily man coverage with a one-high safety, and has finished first in a number of key categories over the past three seasons.

“We’re built for the system that they’re in currently,” Monken said. “And I’m not going to get into staffing, because that’s not at this time to get into that. But they can be rest assured that we’re going to keep the same system. We’re still going to let them attack; we’re still going to let them play free. I can’t see any other way. They’re a big reason why I took this job, the defensive players. 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’d tell you, because of the players that are here, the ownership, Andrew Berry and the ability to build this roster from the ground up on the offensive side. And I said this to the other guys, 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. And when I was sliding a protection to the outside backers or Grant Delpit blitzing off the edge, I was sliding the protection to the players. And when I was worried about throwing to the right against Denzel Ward or Tyson Campbell to the left, that’s who I was worried about throwing at.”

On Thursday night, Garrett will likely be named AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the second time since 2023, and rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger will likely win AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

As of now, the coordinator who helped get them there might not be coaching them this season.

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