The Browns tight end and former first round pick has told his agent he wants a new deal to remain in Cleveland.
Like the cleaning of a house, the David Njoku saga never ends. Just after recently leaving Drew Rosenhaus to return to his former agent, Njoku has reportedly told his representation to try to get a new deal with the Browns.
#Browns David Njoku said he'll instruct his agent to push for a new deal in Cleveland. Said one of the reasons he switched representation was in hopes to stay with the Browns.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) August 20, 2021
Njoku claims that the switch in representation was due to trying to get a new deal done that would not materialize, but nobody hires Rosenahus to get a new deal done in Cleveland, it’s to get out of Cleveland.
There are several contract extension candidates currently on the roster and David Njoku is firmly behind them. Denzel Ward, Baker Mayfield, Ronnie Harrison, and Wyatt Teller all have claims to new deals before Njoku’s name should even be mentioned. As far as new deal is concerned, that does not necessarily bode well with those four ahead of him and the fact that only three seem likely to get new contracts.
The prior list is before taking into account the other tight ends on the roster. The Browns signed Austin Hooper to a big deal in free agency last season and spent another resource in the draft on Harrison Bryant. That is before considering the now out for season Stephen Carlson, who was a major presence in special teams play. The fact that Carlson is now out could be a source of leverage for Njoku and his camp knowing that the Browns need at least three, preferably four tight ends to effectively run their offense. The timing of this desire for a new deal in Cleveland just happened to be known after the injury to Carlson.
With all of that being said, a new deal for David Njoku should only be done on a bargain basement type deal. Cleveland has spent a ton of money on the offensive side of the ball already making it hard to justify signing another tight end to a deal with an extension for Mayfield looming and the need to sort out the situations with Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. (side note: hopefully Andrew Berry and Co. can figure out a way to keep those two in the mix for the foreseeable future).
The reality of the situation is that while Njoku has improved over his four seasons in the NFL, he is still a very raw player. Investing a large sum of money into these type of players is not necessarily wise. In 13 games last season, in an offense that is supposed to emphasize the tight ends, Njoku caught just 19 passes on 29 targets for 213 yards, and two touchdowns, the lowest numbers of his career when excluding the disastrous 2019 season, (for reference, Bryant was targeted 38 times and Hooper 70 last season).
Considering that the Browns already have a ton of money invested in the offense, the need to extend other offensive players as well, and the fact more defensive help is needed in the very near future, there just may not be a world where an extension for David Njoku in Cleveland happens.
