Little by little, things are falling into place, and the Cleveland Browns have become the eighth of the ten teams that needed a head coach to fill the vacancy, after hiring Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. The only teams still without a head coach are the Arizona Cardinals and the Las Vegas Raiders.
There had been talk that many head coaching candidates were turning down the Browns, mainly due to the instability at the quarterback position, which was one of the reasons behind Kevin Stefanski’s dismissal. Even so, Cleveland managed to land an offensive mind like Todd Monken, who will begin his first stint as an NFL head coach.
In both 2023 and 2024, Monken led the Baltimore Ravens offense to rank among the best in the league, specifically in the Top 5. He was also a key figure in Lamar Jackson winning the MVP award in 2023 and coming very close to repeating the feat in 2024-a season in which many felt it was unfair that the award went to Josh Allen.
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John Harbaugh loses a key piece in Todd Monken
After leaving the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh was quickly hired as head coach of the New York Giants, joining a promising project alongside Jaxson Dart, who had an outstanding rookie season. Harbaugh’s plan was to bring Todd Monken with him as offensive coordinator, but that option is now off the table.
Everything pointed to Monken becoming the Giants’ offensive coordinator, but after the news broke, Harbaugh had nothing but praise and well wishes for his former colleague: “Todd is an outstanding coach. He has worked his way up and paid his dues. He was invaluable in what we did the past three years in Baltimore. He deserves this opportunity. And I believe he will be successful. Todd is a good friend. I wish him all the best with the Browns.”
As a result, Harbaugh will now have to search for a new offensive coordinator, especially because he cannot afford to fail in the development of Jaxson Dart, who is entering his second NFL season. Dart showed plenty of promise as a rookie, totaling 24 touchdowns (15 passing and 9 rushing). Even Eli Manning went as far as comparing the Giants’ young quarterback to current NFL MVP Josh Allen.
Meanwhile, Todd Monken faces the challenge of fixing the quarterback situation in Cleveland. At the moment, he has three options: Shedeur Sanders, who ended up as the starter; Deshaun Watson, who is returning; and Dillon Gabriel. All three come with more questions than answers, making this one of Monken’s biggest challenges moving forward.
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