5 NFL teams that should trade for David Njoku from Browns
By Randy Gurzi
There’s no shortage of suitors for Browns tight end David Njoku
When Andrew Berry took over for the Cleveland Browns, the first-year general manager proved quickly that he was willing to make big moves. He was also willing to do the unexpected.
His signing of former Tennessee Titans right tackle Jack Conklin was expected — as was the use of the No. 10 overall pick on Alabama offensive tackle Jedrick Wills. What wasn’t as expected was the move he made to give Austin Hooper a four-year contract worth $44 million.
That was enough to make Hooper the highest-paid player at his position. It also raised a lot of questions about David Njoku‘s future with the team.
A former first-round pick from 2017, Njoku was entering his fourth season in the NFL and was coming off a brutal campaign. The 29th overall pick from Miami had 32 receptions for 386 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie. He followed that up with 639 yards and another four touchdowns off 56 reception in year two.
However, 2019 was a completely different story as he had just five receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown on only 10 targets. Part of the problem was he was hurt in Week 2 against the New York Jets when he was tackled hard and landed on his head, suffering a concussion.
It was later discovered he also broke his wrist and was sent to the IR. Njoku returned to health in December but still found himself sidelined by former head coach Freddie Kitchens.
Once Kitchens was gone, there was an expectation that Njoku could return to form. The signing of Hooper slightly deterred from that belief, but he did say he wanted to utilize the two tight end set often.
But then Cleveland drafted Harrison Bryant, a Florida Atlantic tight end in the fourth round of the draft and despite exercising Njoku’s fifth-year option, it seemed clear that he was not in the team’s long-term plans.
Njoku understands this as he recently fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus, who is now requesting a trade for his client — something he does often and is very successful at.
With that being the case, we look at five teams that could end up landing the former first-round pick.