The Cleveland Browns appeared to be on the verge of officially ending their search for a new defensive coordinator. According to a report by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Browns are very likely to name Wilks as their newest guru on defense as early as Monday.

The #Browns are expected to hire former #AZCardinals head coach Steve Wilks as their new defensive coordinator, sources say. They are close on a deal and it should be done tomorrow. Big hire for new coach Freddie Kitchens.

As mentioned by Rapoport, Wilks was with the Arizona Cardinals prior to this soon-to-be-made official partnership with the Browns. Wilks was hired by Arizona to be the franchise’s head coach last year but lasted just one season with the team following a disastrous 3-13 campaign.

It’s unfair to pin Arizona’s catastrophic 2018 season on Wilks, who knew even before he inked his contract with the Cardinals that the team was going to have a tough year ahead of it. The Cardinals were quarterbacked by a rookie in Josh Rosen for most of the season and severely lacked talent in just about every area surrounding the signal-caller.

That’s not going to be the case for Wilks in Cleveland, where he’ll work with a stop unit that’s brimming with youth, talent, and potential.

The Browns’ defense finished the 2018 regular season just 21st in the NFL with 24.5 points allowed per game, but it’s expected to develop into a stout unit soon with the likes of Myles Garrett, Emmanuel Ogbah, Denzel Ward, and Damarious Randall forming a promising group.