It sounds like one member of the Browns' rookie class was almost a Bear (& it wasn't Quinshon Judkins)

It sure sounds like Carson Schwesinger might've been a second-round target for the Bears.

Nov 16, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger (49) celebrates an interception during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Browns hit the ball out of the park with their rookie class. Bears' head coach Ben Johnson specifically singled out one member of the group a few times this week.

Linebacker Carson Schwesinger, whom the team selected with the 33rd overall pick, currently leads the team with 119 tackles, good for seventh-most in the entire league. He also has 1.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and two interceptions. He's having a truly ridiculous rookie season.

Carson Schwesinger is so easily defensive rookie of the year pic.twitter.com/TD4huiV6LC

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) December 3, 2025

When speaking with ESPN 1000's Jeff Joniak earlier this week, Johnson said that Schwesinger was someone they really liked coming out in the draft. He also gave him a glowing review when speaking to reporters yesterday afternoon.

"He's going to be a good player for a long time," Johnson said. "He's all over the place. Highly instinctive. He reminds me a lot of [Luke] Kuechly."

He offered up that information when asked about what makes Cleveland's pass defense so good. The question wasn't even specifically about Schwesinger.

That is tremendously high praise.

Also, I don't know about you, but to me, that sounds like they were interested in drafting him. I don't think they'd do a significant amount of homework on someone they had no intentions of drafting. With the head coach offering up comparisons to Kuechly unprompted, it sounds like they might have been very interested in him.

Could they have potentially been considering him in the first round if they traded out of the tenth overall pick? Maybe, but I think it's much more likely that they were considering him with one of their second-round selections (they had picks 39 and 41 when night two began).

While the Bears selecting a linebacker at the top of the second round would've raised eyebrows, the fact that they were interested in him isn't all that surprising. The selection of Luther Burden III was also considered a luxury pick. The fact of the matter is that they were in a position to take the best player on their board after heavily addressing the trenches in free agency and through the trade market.

They drafted linebacker Ruben Hypollite II in the fourth round, too. So they knew they needed to bring in some competition there after losing Jack Sanborn in free agency. They probably had little faith that Noah Sewell, who played mostly on special teams through his first two seasons, could hold his own on the defensive side of the ball.

Schwesinger would've also provided insurance for Tremaine Edmunds if he failed to live up to his hefty contract this season. They would save $15 million by getting him off the books next season, and that type of cap flexibility would've been tempting. I think that logic has gone out the window with how well he's played this season, though. I'd be surprised if they don't bring him back to play out the final year of his deal.

They conceivably might not have traded out of pick 41 if he were available. How would that have affected the remainder of the class?

Well, they probably would've hoped either Ozzy Trapilo or Shemar Turner would fall to pick 72, which was where they were picking before swapping picks with Buffalo and adding another second-rounder. That seems like wishful thinking, though (especially in Trapilo's case). It's difficult to envision what scenario would've been better for Chicago, but I'd lean towards the way things went if the Boston College product winds up being the long-term answer at left tackle.

I know many were upset when the Browns selected running back Quinshon Judkins with the 36th pick. Based on everything we know now, it sounds like the Bears' front office was probably much more bothered when they selected Schwesinger at pick 33.

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