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Denzel Ward #21 of the Cleveland Browns

It’s still early in the NFL offseason, but for a team that appears as determined to get things turned around in 2026 after two seasons with eight total wins, the Cleveland Browns don’t have much time to waste. There is a new coach in place–Todd Monken–and along with him came a new staff. That includes defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, who has the tough job of replacing popular DC Jim Schwartz, the guy who led the Browns to a No. 2 defensive ranking last year.

Schwartz did not get the head coaching job and, angry over that snub, quit the team altogether. While there has been an overall exuberance around the Browns following a very promising NFL draft, the departure of Schwartz–and how the team’s veteran defensive stars like Myles Garrett, Grant Delpit and Denzel Ward truly feel about it–still hangs in the background.

What’s made that worse is that, in the three-plus months since Schwartz left the Browns, none of the team’s veteran defensive stars have come forward to speak about the team’s new leadership–and none were present at the team’s first voluntary meetings last month.

Browns OTAs Start Next Week

Next week, the Browns will begin OTAs at the team facility in Barea, and it’s unclear whether any of the defense’s elder statesmen will show up. They do not have to–the workouts are voluntary–but their presence or absence will speak volumes, either way.

On “The Orange and Brown Talk,” podcast with Cleveland.com beat writers Mary Kay Cabot and Dan Labbe, the fact that we have scarcely seen or heard from any veteran defensive players yet was brought up as something that needs to change, and quickly.

Said Labbe: “I do hope we see more guys there (at OTAs), especially on that defensive side. Obviously, we have talked about Myles a ton on this pod, but, Denzel Ward has not been there, that we’ve seen. Grant Delpit has not been there that we’ve seen. These are guys who are, like, leaders on this team and these are guys who, if this team’s going to be good, it’s still going to be because of that defense. The offense should be better, you hope it’ll be better. It has to be–it can’t get any worse, I would think.”

Defensive Veterans Still Have Much to Prove

While it would be fair for some of the Browns veterans to be unhappy with the way that the Schwartz situation was handled, and while it is also fair to note that the Browns’ struggles are not the fault of the defense, it’s still a team game and this team has done nothing in the last two years that should make veterans think it’s OK to skip workouts.

The Browns have what is ranked as the easiest schedule in the NFL. But this is still an outfit that lost to the Jets last year, and could easily land at 4-13 next season.

Labbe continued: “At some point, you want these guys to show up. Because it goes back to … what have the Browns done? You know, (you can’t) sit here and say, ‘Well, that is an easy schedule, just win some of these games.’ And that is sort of what you are saying when you show up for OTAs and you show up as if we haven’t accomplished anything. This is where it starts, when we do win some games in the fall, it is because we showed up and did what we were supposed to do in the spring.

“It would send a clear message that we’re serious about winning games under this new staff.”