David Njoku wants to be traded. The Browns tight end has requested a trade via his new agent, Drew Rosenhaus.
The Browns are under no obligation to deal Njoku, who has two years left on his rookie contract. Cleveland picked up the fifth-year option on his contract earlier this offseason, and he’s being counted upon to be a productive part of new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s two-TE offense. Every indication is the team values Njoku’s ability to rebound from an injury-marred 2019 where he caught just five passes for 41 yards in four games.
But what could they get in return for Njoku?
The pie in the sky is what the Jaguars got in return for 2016 first-rounder Jalen Ramsey. The Rams sent Jacksonville first-round picks in 2020 and 2021 and a 4th-rounder in 2021 for the All-Pro defensive back. Alas, that’s a completely unrealistic pie.
For starters, Ramsey was an established star, one of the top young defenders in the NFL. Njoku in three seasons (36 career games) has produced what is an average year for Eagles TE Travis Kelce: 93 receptions, 1,066 yards, nine TDs. There is no comparison between the two other than wanting off the respective teams that drafted them in the first rounds.
Thinking the Browns would get anything close to that in return is delusional. A more realistic haul is what the Rams got in return for the player they shipped out to make room for Ramsey, CB Marcus Peters.
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The Ravens sent a 2020 5th-round draft pick and backup LB Kenny Young, a 4th-round pick in 2018 who played sparingly in Los Angeles after the trade, to get Peters. An enigmatic former first-rounder (2015, 18th overall), Peters’ prickly personality got him run out of Kansas City despite making the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons.
Peters thrived in Baltimore after the trade and earned All-Pro honors, notching two pick-6s in 10 games with the Ravens and leading the NFL in INT return yards.
Njoku has periodically flashed the potential to be an impact receiving talent at tight end, but he’s never put it all together with any consistency. Any team trading for him would be hoping for a Peters-like rise, but that’s not a given with Njoku.
Now consider why Njoku wants to be traded. He hired new agent Drew Rosenhaus to help him maximize his earning potential with the lucrative second contract. The Browns just invested the biggest free agent contract ever given to a tight end to Austin Hooper, so that well looks dry in Cleveland. The desire for a big payday for a relatively unproven player is a headache many teams simply won’t want.
That’s why I think the most realistic return is what the Seahawks got in return from the Steelers for a quick rental of tight end Nick Vannett last year. Desperate for healthy bodies, the Steelers dealt a 5th-round pick to Seattle for Vannett. He wound up catching 13 passes in 13 games for Pittsburgh, scoring four TDs.
Njoku could, and probably should, be significantly more productive than Vannett as a receiver. That’s why there will be a market. Just don’t expect it to be much more than a future 5th-round pick…if he’s even dealt at all in 2020.