Cleveland Browns rumors: Final roster sets up David Njoku trade
The final roster would suggest the Cleveland Browns might still trade David Njoku.
The Cleveland Browns surprisingly kept five tight ends after trimming its roster down to 53 players Sept. 5.
With that number so high, look for trade talk to continue swirling around David Njoku.
The reason? It’s one tight end too many, as noted by Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto.
Another longtime Browns writer also weighed in on Njoku’s future, predicting Njoku’s trade demand from earlier in the spring will be kept.
"“David Njoku ($1.763 million) as a third tight end just doesn’t make sense. I still believe he’ll be traded. I think he does, too,” wrote TheLandonDemand’s Tony Grossi."
Njoku’s become expendable largely due to the play of rookie Harrison Bryant. The fifth-round pick, out of Florida Atlantic, relived at camp, even earning an award for the camp’s most outstanding rookie.
You had to count on the Browns keeping at least one blocking tight end in the battle between Pharaoh Brown and Stephen Carlson..
Other roster takeaways:
1. The Browns were ready to move on from Chad Thomas, who was drafted in the third round of the 2018 draft by John Dorsey. Thomas will likely catch on somewhere, else, but as Grossi noted, “I think the Browns realized that and simply don’t care.”
2. Thomas was passed by Porter Gustin on the depth chart and Andrew Berry claimed Boise State rookie Curtis Weaver. Weaver’s injured and won’t play this season, but the Browns were willing to bet on his future and part ways with Thomas.
3. Thought it was surprising the Browns cut A.J. Green. They obviously really liked the corner, basically guaranteeing him sixth-round pick money to lure him here as an undrafted free agent. He’d be an ideal player to invite to the practice squad should he still be available.
4. Evan Brown got the nod over Willie Wright to be the backup center/guard/ Brown is 23 and has mostly been a practice squad player. The line will be one of the big story lines of Week 1 as Jedrick Wills starts at left tackle, while presumably, fifth-round pick Nick Harris will start at center for J.C. Tretter.
Next. 5 Browns who shouldn't have been cut. dark
Tretter had knee surgery earlier in the summer and didn’t practice in Training Camp.