With Option Picked Up, David Njoku Remains A Part Of The Browns’ Plans

After signing Austin Hooper to a lucrative deal in free agency and drafting Harrison Bryant in the fourth round this past weekend, it might have signaled the beginning of the end for David Njoku in Cleveland.

That, though, isn’t the case. At least for now.

On Monday, the team announced that it had exercised Njoku’s fifth-year option — worth $6.4 million — along with Myles Garrett’s. Per cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, the team plans to try and sign both players to extensions. Garrett is a no-brainer to lockdown consider he’s on the best defenders in football. And while Njoku isn’t as obvious based on his three years with the team, it makes sense in the context of the Kevin Stefanski-era Browns.

“I really think there is a way to get all these guys on the field,” Stefanski said after the draft, “sometimes at the same time and sometimes not. I just think there is versatility in that position. I think being able to move guys around the formation is a very big deal.”

Aside from Hooper, Njoku and Bryant, the team has Stephen Carlson and Pharaoh Brown on the depth. In theory, all could play in Stefanski’s offense — which used multiple tight end sets 57% of the time last season, per ESPN. Depth chart wise, Minnesota’s No. 1 — Kyle Rudolph — played 78% of all offensive snaps last year, per Pro Football Reference, with No. 2 — rookie Irv Smith Jr. — playing 60% and No. 3 Tyler Conklin playing 27%. Best case for Njoku is that the Browns run a fair amount of 12 and 22 personnel so he ends up playing almost as much as Hooper does.

For Njoku specifically, the new coach and new scheme should only help him. By the end of last season — where he missed 10 games due to a broken wrist — he was a healthy scratch in two of the final four games. Had Kitchens not been fired and John Dorsey not let go, it might have been the end of Njoku’s Browns career. Instead, he’s now playing for a head coach who puts a premium on tight ends.

“To David in particular, our perspective remains the same,” Browns GM Andrew Berry, who helped draft Njoku back in 2017, said after the draft. “I have been pretty consistent this offseason in terms of we still have a ton of belief in David. He is very talented.

“Obviously, he was not on the field much last year, but he is a guy with outstanding physical tools, he has proven NFL production and we still think the future is very bright with him here. David has always been and continues to be in our plans, and we are going to continue to add competition all across the roster.”

Remember: Njoku is still only 23 years old and a high-level athlete with an ideal frame at 6’4” and 246 pounds. In 2018, he caught 56 passes for 639 yards and four touchdowns. That season, per PFF, he was tied for seventh in targets among tight ends, eighth in receiptons, eighth in receiving yards and tied for ninth in touchdowns. He also averaged 11.4 yards per catch, per PFF — better than any mark of Hooper’s career.

There is still work to be done, particularly as a blocker and with his overall consistency catching the football. Right now, he’s probably the No. 2 tight end behind Hooper with Bryant and the others pushing for snaps too. But the potential is there for Njoku to have a real breakout year in a situation that fits him better than what came before.