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The Cleveland Browns will interview San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for their head-coaching vacancy, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Rapoport notes that the Browns will head to Santa Clara this weekend to conduct the interview. With the 49ers having a first-round bye, it's a perfect time for Saleh to speak with other clubs.
Cleveland fired Freddie Kitchens from his post as head coach immediately after the 2019 campaign ended after Kitchens spent just one year at the helm.
Saleh has been San Francisco's defensive coordinator since 2017 and has helped elevate the Niners to the second-ranked defense in the NFL.
The 40-year-old first landed an NFL job back in 2005, when he served as a defensive intern for the Houston Texans. The Texans then promoted him to the role of defensive quality control coach in 2006, and in 2009, he switched to assistant linebackers coach.
Saleh then made his way to the Seattle Seahawks in 2011, taking a job as a defensive quality control coach before being hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as linebackers coach in 2014. He spent three seasons there before joining the 49ers.
The Browns were pegged as Super Bowl contenders by some heading into 2019 thanks to a busy offseason in which they added big names such as Odell Beckham Jr. and Kareem Hunt while also making moves to improve the defensive side of the ball.
However, Cleveland never got off the ground, winning just six games and extending their NFL-worst playoff drought to 17 seasons.
San Francisco finished with the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season.
