David Njoku Requests Pre-Training Camp Trade From Cleveland Browns

If he gets his way, David Njoku will no longer be a Cleveland Brown by the start of training camp.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Njoku has requested a trade and wants to be elsewhere by the start of training camp at the end of July. Per Schefter, Njoku’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus said “It is in David’s best interest to find a new team at this time.”

Njoku, 23, was a 2017 first-round pick by the Browns. He’s never quite clicked in the NFL despite a few strong moments and is coming off a season where he was injured, put in then-head coach Freddie Kitchens’ doghouse and only played in four games. This past April, the Browns picked up their fifth-year option on Njoku even after signing Austin Hooper in free agency and drafting Harrison Bryant in the fourth round. Considering new GM Andrew Berry helped drafted Njoku, and that new head coach Kevin Stefanski used more two-tight end sets than anyone last year, it seemed like he was going to matter for the Browns going forward. Or at least have a shot to.

What comes now is hard to predict. What Njoku’s value is is impossible to know considering he hasn’t played all that well to date. Per PFF, he’s been the NFL’s 30th-ranked tight end since entering the league.There are moments where his elite athleticism shines and he looks like a monster, but he’s never been consistent. He’s still young, so a team certainly could view him as still having potential. Is that enough to get more than late-round pick?

Some of floated the idea of pairing him with a draft pick to acquire someone the Browns need. They have needs at linebacker and defense end, so maybe there’s a deal to be found there. In an ESPN roundtable, Field Yates pitched Njoku and a 2021 second-pick for disgruntled Jaguars defense end Yannick Ngakoue. The problem there is that Ngakoue wants a new contract at or near the top of the edge rusher market. That’s the type of deal Myles Garrett is reportedly negotiating with the team, so do the Browns want to go down that route? It makes sense in vacuum, but the finances keep it from being a slam dunk.

From Njoku’s perspective, asking for a trade makes sense. With the team having paid Hooper and drafted Bryant, there was probably no way he was going to get a big extension from the Browns in the next year or so. If he can get somewhere else where can be a more featured player — remember, the Browns have Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Kareem Hunt on the roster in addition to the tight ends — it probably gives him a better chance to earn a lucrative deal. There’s probably a cap how much he can showcase when he’s competing with so many other players for touches. That’s even true in a system like Stefanski’s that features multiple tight ends and a lot of heavy personnel packages.

Will he get what he wants? It’s too early to tell. But what maybe what he wants going public will speed up the process in some way.