The Cleveland Browns still have a lot of work to do this offseason. Cleveland already hired head coach Todd Monken, but they still have some open positions on the coaching staff. That includes defensive coordinator after Jim Schwartz resigned after being passed up as a head coaching candidate.
The Browns have requested to interview Giants assistant coach Charlie Bullen for their defensive coordinator vacancy, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. He is also reportedly in the mix for Arizona's defensive coordinator role too.
Bullen has a lot of experience as an outside linebackers coach both at the college level and in the NFL.
The Giants hired Bullen in 2024 as an outside linebackers coach. He held that role until he was promoted to interim defensive coordinator in 2025 after Brian Daboll was fired in November.
New York clearly had enough confidence in Bullen to promote him to interim defensive coordinator. It seems that other NFL teams are willing to take a look at him too.
The Giants hired John Harbaugh at head coach on a five-year contract back in January. It is unclear whether or not Harbaugh would want to keep Bullen on his staff. But the interest from Cleveland and Arizona suggests that Bullen could be actively looking for other opportunities.
The presence of Myles Garrett should make Cleveland's defensive coordinator job quite attractive to candidates. Garrett unanimously won NFL Defensive Player of the Year after setting a single-season record with 23 sacks in 2025.
But that also means that whoever the Browns hire will enter with high expectations.
Cleveland only allowed 283.6 yards per game in 2025, which ranked fourth in the NFL. That put them up with other elite defenses like Houston, Denver, and Seattle.
It will be interesting to see how well Cleveland's defense performs in 2025. The answer could reveal how much of Cleveland's brilliance came from Schwartz's coaching and how much came from the players.
