The Cleveland Browns are just two weeks into the regular season, but they’re already facing a must-win game against what appears to be a juggernaut in the visiting Green Bay Packers this weekend.
Should the Browns fall to the Packers, who are 2-0 after besting the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders by convincing margins and coming off 10 days rest, Cleveland will hit the dreaded 0-3 mark to open the season — which, historically, means the campaign is already lost.
As such, Cleveland profiles in mid-September as one of the more likely sellers ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
“Starting the season 0-2 and seemingly already positioning themselves to be a big factor in next year’s draft (two first-round picks), the Browns could very easily be dealing away players by early November,” Dan Graziano of ESPN wrote Friday, September 19. “Cornerback Greg Newsome II and tight end David Njoku are among the veterans in the final years of their contracts who could be of interest to teams looking for help at the deadline.”
Newsome is a player the Browns may want to hold onto longer, even if they ultimately trade him as well, due to the team’s depth issues at the outside cornerback position following Martin Emerson Jr.’s season-ending Achilles tear in late July.
Njoku, however, is more expendable after the Browns appear to have hit big with rookie third-round pick Harold Fannin Jr., who already has 12 catches on 14 targets for 111 receiving yards and looks like the team’s future at the tight end position.
David Njoku Suffered Injury, Took Step Back in 2024 Following Pro-Bowl Season
GettyCleveland Browns tight end David Njoku.
Njoku put together his best season for the Browns in 2023, producing career highs across the board with 81 receptions for 882 receiving yards and six TDs.
Cleveland earned a spot in the playoffs after that campaign with Joe Flacco under center, but lost in the opening round to the Houston Texans.
Flacco departed the following offseason, while Njoku battled injury across what proved a year of major regression for the Browns. The tight end played in just 11 games and while still productive (64 catches for 505 yards and five scores), Njoku’s output took a step back in every statistical category.
David Njoku Doesn’t Have Value to Command Big Contract From Browns, Does Have Mid-Round Value on Trade Market
GettyCleveland Browns tight end David Njoku.
Njoku is now playing in his age-29 season, his ninth in the league, and is on the final year of his $55 million contract. Cleveland is in the midst of a youth movement, with two rookie QBs behind Flacco — who reunited with the team in 2025 after a year with the Indianapolis Colts — two rookie running backs leading the way in the offensive backfield and two rookie starters on defense in tackle Mason Graham and linebacker Carson Schwesigner.
And there is also the aforementioned Fannin, who appears capable already of starting for the Browns at tight end were the team to move on from Njoku ahead of the deadline.
It makes next to no sense for Cleveland to continue paying Njoku on a new contract, even if he’s willing to take a pay cut from approximately $11 million annually, with Fannin on a rookie deal that costs just $6.7 million total through 2028.
Even if Njoku — who has seven catches for 77 yards through two games — can return to his Pro-Bowl status of two seasons ago, the money wouldn’t add up for a 30-year-old and 10-year veteran in 2026. That said, he could certainly have mid-round trade value (fourth or fifth, perhaps) to a team in need of another pass-catcher at the position.
Double tight-end sets with two players who can serve as receiving threats are popular across the league, and teams face new injuries on their rosters every week. As such, if the Browns decide to put Njoku on the market and try to get a draft asset for him before he walks in free agency next March for nothing, there should be interest.
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