One of the best ways for an NFL team to accelerate its rebuilding process is to add rookie contributors. Not only can they make an impact on the field, but on lower-value contracts, they can help manage the salary cap as well.
The Browns had great success in the 2025 NFL Draft, adding several useful players with Pro Bowl potential. Last year’s class can serve as the foundation of the team at an advantageous pay rate.
Some of them will most assuredly cash in at some point, and they will hit free agency around the same time. But for now, Cleveland is making the best of a special situation.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report has named young Browns defender Carson Schwesinger as the team’s “most underpaid player.”
“Cleveland Browns: LB Carson Schwesinger,” Brad Gagnon wrote. “The 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year was the 13th-highest-graded qualified run-blocking linebacker at Pro Football Focus, but as a second-round pick he’s owed just $9.7 million over the course of the next three total seasons.”
Schwesinger was arguably the most valuable pick in the entire 2025 draft. As the first pick of the second round, No. 33 overall, he ran away with Defensive Rookie of the Year honors by posting 156 combined tackles, 11 tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions before sitting out the season finale with leg injuries.
He was part of an exceptional rookie class for the Browns, which included defensive tackle Mason Graham, who was their first-round pick at No. 5 overall. Cleveland spent the rest of its draft upgrading its offense with running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, tight end Harold Fannin Jr., and quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
That could create an interesting dilemma down the line, as all of their rookie contracts, except Graham’s, will expire at the same time. So, they will all either be looking for extensions or new deals in the same offseasons.
As a second-round pick, Schwesinger does not have a fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract, unlike a first-round pick like Graham. That means Schwesinger’s big payday may come earliest.
Fortunately, at that point, the Browns should be out from under the most onerous salary cap restrictions of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s contract, so they will be able to deal with each of these players with some wise spending going forward.
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