Browns: David Njoku is happy where he is but team should still consider a trade

David Njoku is happy with the Browns but they should still consider a trade.

It’s great that David Njoku is happy with the Browns. It shows he knows the team is going places and wants to be part of the ride. That’s wonderful, but the Browns are a team that has placed an emphasis on optimizing talent to the best of their ability and that means Njoku being traded should not be taken off the table.

Njoku isn’t making too much money that the team has to move on from him this year, but it seems unlikely that he’ll want the same amount after the year ends. He is in the last year of his contract after all, and most talents try to get as much as possible the first time they hit the free-agent wire. Njoku did play fine in 2020, even though he was basically the third tight end on the team.

Harrison Bryant and Austin Hooper are expected to get the bulk of snaps in 2021 at this rate unless injuries pop up, and it’s very likely that Njoku’s 2021 looks a lot like his 2020 statistically. So what’s the upside to holding onto him, only to more than likely let him walk in free agency?

Depth? Sure, but what he provides as the team’s third tight end is good blocking, and he’s not even the third-best blocker at the position on the team, as the Browns still have Stephen Carlson.

Trading him maximizes any potential losses.

The NFL since the ’90s has always focused on retaining the stars, and replace the ones around them. This is how most teams compete in the salary-cap eras of sports. Njoku is not a star, and he’s not even in the top two at his position or skill set. That’s no knock on him, by the way, just an acknowledgment of how good the tight ends on this team are.

He’s more than likely walking away in free agency unless something drastic happens to Hooper or Bryant. If one of them is forced to retire, Njoku could be back on a long-term deal. The odds of that happening are slim though.

The best bet is to find a team that needs a tight end and try to get anything they can for him. He’ll be able to go be a starter somewhere on a team that needs him, and the Browns might get a mid-round pick back or him.

Njoku might break out there, but that’s ok because think about how he fits in Cleveland. There are at least four receivers over him (Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, Rashad Higgins, and Anthony Schwartz), two tight ends, two running backs and that doesn’t factor in guys like D’Ernest Johnson, Donovan-Peoples Jones, or any of the other guys on the team.

That’s a lot of guys to throw the ball to, while also catering to the team’s run game. So even if Njoku does break out somewhere else, it’ll be due to the team needing him to, not because the Browns overlooked him.

The Browns need to worry about building a team that competes not just in 2021 but in 2031 and that requires draft picks and planning. Sometimes guys like Njoku just have to be sacrificed at the Alter of Dynasties for a team to move forward.

After all, how many ex-Patriots can you name that were let go during the team’s two decades of dominance.