One Starting Job the Browns Are Happy They Don’t Have To Answer Today

One thing is certain about the 2026 Cleveland Browns: they will look massively different from their 2025 counterparts.

It’s not just a total overhaul on the offensive line, or the influx of new talent at wide receiver, or looking down the defensive line and not seeing Myles Garrett, or the fact that there could still be some trades waiting to happen in the defensive backfield. It’s a combination of all those factors, plus a few more, coupled with the fact that the team will be debuting head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams in the same season.

Almost everything will happen all at once for the Browns, who will also miss their fair share of fan favorites, including Joel Bitonio and David Njoku.

Lucky for them, the now most important position on defense is not only set, but most importantly, it’s in the best possible hands for the foreseeable future with the NFL’s reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, Carson Schwesinger.

Schwesinger has unofficially inherited the mantle of leader on defense after a number of moves have completely altered the unit’s configuration.

The most important move was seeing Garrett getting traded away, along with the arrival of the NFL’s 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year, Jared Verse, taking his spot as edge rusher.

But, the team will also miss fellow linebacker Devin Bush Jr. signed elsewhere in free agency, and will have to deal with yet another season without standout linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, for whom the door on an eventual return seems to be definitely closing. Another one of the team’s linebackers from last year, Jerome Baker, is still unsigned.

Now, Schwesinger will be paired up with veteran Quincy Williams and rookie Justin Jefferson, as the team ushers in a new era on defense with Mike Rutenberg at the helm.

Carson Schwesinger is now the most important player on defense

Denzel Ward is still the most decorated Brown on the roster, but his lack of participation in minicamp, along with safety Grant Delpit, have led many to believe that either one of them, or maybe both, could still be on the move. In Ward’s case, a cap hit of almost $31 million for the 2026 season lends some credence to this theory.

Should Cleveland end up dealing Ward elsewhere, Schwesinger’s leadership role will grow even more, as he’ll likely end up spearheading a unit where many of the top difference makers will be around his age, including Verse, Mason Graham and rookie safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, taken in the second round.

Defense was, by far, Cleveland’s best unit in an otherwise miserable 2025 campaign, and Rutenberg knows he’s succeeding a very respected coach in Jim Schwartz, who walked away when not getting picked as the team’s head coach.

While Williams’ importance to Rutenberg can’t be understated as he installs his scheme in Cleveland, getting Schwesinger to buy into it and ultimately thrive in it will do more than anything to get the rest of the players on board

The Browns still have to sort out a lot of things before the regular season begins, including who will actually take snaps under center. Fortunately, they can count on Schwesinger as the quarterback on defense. .

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