Re-signing David Njoku for a big payday makes sense but not with the roster as it is

The Cleveland Browns would be wise to re-sign David Njoku but with a caveat.

The Cleveland Browns appear to want to keep David Njoku, according to Mary Cay Cabot. The report states that the Browns are ready to offer the tight end nearly eight figures per year. The report claims that the Browns and Njoku’s agent have been discussing things for months ahead of the free-agent period.

Cabot claims that it won’t be cheap at all to get the tight end back.

"The Browns definitely want him back, and are prepared to pay him the double-digit millions he’ll get on the open market."

The Browns would be wise to go and get Njoku back, he’s by far the more consistent big-play receiving target on the offense, regardless of the position. Losing him would hurt the Browns and their ability to improve the team going forward.

The problem comes with the idea that he and Austin Hooper would now be making $20+ million between the two, at a time when the team needs to free up money to improve the receivers on the team. That makes it hard to justify giving Njoku that much money unless they intend on restructuring or moving on from Hooper.

The Cleveland Browns should re-sign David Njoku if they restructure the offense

The Cleveland Browns simply don’t have the offense in place to warrant giving David Njoku $10+ million per year. While he’s a needed piece with the offense as is, if the Browns go out and land two play-making receivers, then Njoku’s best qualities no longer matter. He’s big and he’s fast for a tight end, but if the Browns go and get a Chris Godwin-type payer, that nullifies a lot of what Njoku offers.

After all, it’s not as if Austin Hooper is a bad player, it’s that Hooper is slower than every receiver but Jarvis Landry, and his lack of speed makes him a liability on a team that is as slow as the Browns. If you improve the speed around Hooper, Hooperes best traits; his blocking and catching, are no longer muffled by the offense. Teams can’t sit linebackers across the middle of the field anymore, as defenses will have to scheme and cover the faster players the Browns have, causing more two-on-one matchups, and not being able to rely on simple zone coverages.

If that happens then Njoku goes back to being one of the slower offensive players on the team, and his skill set isn’t as valuable.

Njoku is a great target to keep, absolutely, but the Browns have to make a decision on what is more important. Having two tight ends that eat up a major portion of the budget or keeping cap space to go get a speedster receiver.

Now, the answer may be restructuring Hooper’s deal for 2022, and giving Njoku a deal that pays him $5-$7 million in year one; and then more in years two, three, four, etc. That way the Browns can either keep Hooper on a cheaper deal in 2023 or release him outright while only eating so much of his contract. This would allow you to keep both without taking on even more money.

Or the Browns could just move on from Hooper, but then again, you’re eating a lot of money to move on from a solid player that you’ll just have to replace anyway.

Re-signing Njoku is the right move but the Browns have to make more moves as well to justify this decision. In a vacuum, Njoku isn’t going to break opposing defenses. He’s not Rob Gronkowski or Travis Kelce.