Browns Take Assistant Coach From Steelers to Help Offense

In the midst of the new coaching hires under Todd Monken, Cleveland grabbed an assistant coach from a rival team.

Dec 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) and Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) hug after the game at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

As the Todd Monken era is officially underway in Cleveland, the next few weeks will be spent building up the staff, especially the offense crew, nearly from scratch.

Monken already got the biggest remaining job out of the way, bringing in Travis Switzer from the Baltimore Ravens to be his offensive coordinator, but there are still plenty of jobs to fill.

Monken wasn’t done swiping coaches from rival teams, as the Cleveland Browns are now expected to hire Matt Baker, a former Pittsburgh Steelers assistant, as the new assistant quarterbacks coach.

Baker's resume

Baker began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent coming out of North Carolina in 2006. He bounced around several practice squads over the next two seasons, before landing on the Buffalo Bills injury reserve for the 2008 season. He was re-signed for 2009, but was released after training camps. He retired soon after.

He began coaching in 2019, serving as an analyst and quarterback coach for Western Michigan. He then moved to offensive coordinator for John Carroll from 2020-22.

He made his NFL coaching debut in 2023, serving as an assistant special teams coach for the Atlanta Falcons.

In 2024 he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was officially listed as an offensive assistant. However, he spent the majority of his time coaching the quarterbacks. Baker worked directly under quarterback coach Tom Arth for the Steelers, who ended up being one of the only coaches new coach Mike McCarthy left on his staff.

What will his job be?

Baker will be coming to an interesting quarterback situation with the Browns. 

Cleveland has a pair of sophomore quarterbacks in Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, who both still have plenty of potential to show in the league. Baker will be tasked with helping develop the quarterbacks, especially whichever one spends more time as a starter next season.

Baker will also be working with one of the most expensive players in Cleveland Browns history, Deshaun Watson, who will be returning after missing a year and a half of action. Watson will still be competing for the job, and Baker will be helping him get back to strength.

Baker will clearly have his hands full with his time for Cleveland, but clearly Monken believed he was the right man for the job. It’s a promising sign that he was hired early in the process, giving him plenty of preparation time before training camps open for next season.