Cleveland Browns: 3 realistic expectations in a David Njoku trade

Mid-Late Round Draft Pick

David Njoku cost the Cleveland Browns a first-round draft pick to take him. Exit this article now if you actually think you can get anything close to that in a trade for him. Njoku has been hurt, a headache, and a malcontent in the locker room (hence the benching last year), and you expect a team to take a flyer on the guy with over three years of experience already?

Teams risk first-round picks on guys not because of the hype or production in college, but because of the intangibles they know and don’t know about.  It’s like being on a game show and knowing you can get a washing machine or a juicer, but opting to go with Door No. 3 instead. You don’t know what you’re getting you just have hope that what’s behind that door is better than the free agents available and talent already on the roster.

That’s why teams use a first-round pick on talent. They don’t know, they hope.

Except, in this case, teams do know. They’ve seen Njoku fail to impress. The whole “it takes tight ends longer…” excuse is just that; an excuse. George Kittle was taken in the same draft as Njoku. He was just taken in the fifth-round. All he’s done is break 500 yards every season he’s been in the NFL, top 1,000 yards twice, and score 12 touchdowns. Kittle nearly doubles Njoku’s career tallies in yards and catches.

If Njoku was a fifth-round pick, then fair play. Njoku would have had a great career by that metric. Njoku was not a fifth-round pick. He was a first-round pick and has never lived up to that expectation. The best you could hope for in a Njoku specific trade is a fifth-round pick.

If you’re lucky.