David Njoku has had more downs than ups during his first five seasons in the league, but the expectation is that the Browns will attempt to re-sign him to a deal averaging over $10 million.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has been covering the team for years and reports as much. The Browns signed Austin Hooper to a four-year contract worth $42 million a year ago, but they apparently now like Njoku more than Hooper. Hooper could be asked to take a pay cut or even be released.
This is surprising, in that last summer reasonable observers were wondering if the Browns (having committed big money to Hooper) would dish off Njoku in a trade – recouping some value before the final season of his rookie deal. Njoku has averaged under 30 catches per season so far as a pro, with 15 touchdowns in 65 games.
But in Kevin Stefanski’s run-oriented offense, the Browns use multiple tight ends on the vast majority of plays. Both Njoku and Hooper averaged just over 2 catches per game last year, but Njoku made more impactful catches downfield, averaging 4 more yards per reception. Njoku caught 7 passes for 149 yards in a game against the Chargers, including a 71-yard touchdown.
The Browns also have another viable tight end. Harrison Bryant caught 21 passes and 3 TDs in his second season. This is a different style of offense.
I would think that Cleveland will be able to get Njoku to agree to a new contract before free agency fires up in a couple of weeks. He’s shown interest in staying in Cleveland, and I don’t think he’s been good enough that there will be another team that will want to offer him a gigantic deal. If the Browns are comfortable paying him $10 million or more, I think that will get the job down.
Hooper might be back and Bryant will have a role, but I’m not confident that any of them will put up notable numbers. They all have some pass-catching ability, so I don’t think this is a situation where any of them will be making a run at 60-plus catches. They all caught 3-4 TDs last year.
In the last 20 years, there have been 13 teams that have finished with seasons with three tight ends catching 20-plus passes. Only five of those teams had an individual tight end who ranked higher than 20th in overall production (using PPR scoring).
| OFFENSES WITH THREE 20-CATCH TIGHT ENDS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2004 | Todd Heap, Balt. | 27 | 303 | 11.2 | 3 | 75.3 | 23 |
| 2004 | Daniel Wilcox, Balt. | 25 | 219 | 8.8 | 1 | 52.9 | 34 |
| 2004 | Terry Jones, Balt. | 20 | 152 | 7.6 | 1 | 41.2 | 39 |
| 2004 | Ben Troupe, Ten. | 33 | 329 | 10.0 | 1 | 71.9 | 26 |
| 2004 | Erron Kinney, Ten. | 25 | 193 | 7.7 | 3 | 62.3 | 30 |
| 2004 | Shad Meier, Ten. | 25 | 127 | 5.1 | 2 | 49.7 | 35 |
| 2005 | Donald Lee, G.B. | 33 | 294 | 8.9 | 2 | 74.4 | 23 |
| 2005 | David Martin, G.B. | 27 | 224 | 8.3 | 3 | 69.4 | 25 |
| 2005 | Bubba Franks, G.B. | 25 | 207 | 8.3 | 1 | 51.7 | 33 |
| 2005 | • Ben Troupe, Ten. | 55 | 530 | 9.6 | 4 | 132.0 | 10 |
| 2005 | • Erron Kinney, Ten. | 55 | 543 | 9.9 | 2 | 121.3 | 13 |
| 2005 | Bo Scaife, Ten. | 37 | 273 | 7.4 | 2 | 76.3 | 22 |
| 2010 | Jeremy Shockey, N.O. | 41 | 408 | 10.0 | 3 | 99.8 | 25 |
| 2010 | Jimmy Graham, N.O. | 31 | 356 | 11.5 | 5 | 96.9 | 27 |
| 2010 | David Thomas, N.O. | 30 | 219 | 7.3 | 2 | 63.9 | 36 |
| 2010 | • Chris Cooley, Was. | 77 | 849 | 11.0 | 3 | 181.9 | 5 |
| 2010 | Fred Davis, Was. | 21 | 316 | 15.1 | 3 | 70.6 | 33 |
| 2010 | Mike Sellers, Was. | 20 | 224 | 11.2 | 0 | 44.6 | 45 |
| 2012 | • Owen Daniels, Hou. | 62 | 716 | 11.6 | 6 | 169.6 | 9 |
| 2012 | James Casey, Hou. | 34 | 330 | 9.7 | 3 | 85.6 | 32 |
| 2012 | Garrett Graham, Hou. | 28 | 263 | 9.4 | 3 | 72.3 | 36 |
| 2013 | Dallas Clark, Balt. | 31 | 343 | 11.1 | 3 | 83.3 | 31 |
| 2013 | Ed Dickson, Balt. | 25 | 273 | 10.9 | 1 | 58.3 | 46 |
| 2013 | Dennis Pitta, Balt. | 20 | 169 | 8.5 | 1 | 42.9 | 50 |
| 2019 | • Mark Andrews, Balt. | 64 | 852 | 13.3 | 10 | 209.2 | 5 |
| 2019 | Hayden Hurst, Balt. | 30 | 349 | 11.6 | 2 | 76.9 | 34 |
| 2019 | Nick Boyle, Balt. | 31 | 321 | 10.4 | 2 | 75.1 | 36 |
| 2020 | Trey Burton, Ind. | 28 | 250 | 8.9 | 5 | 83.3 | 27 |
| 2020 | Mo Alie-Cox, Ind. | 31 | 394 | 12.7 | 2 | 82.4 | 29 |
| 2020 | Jack Doyle, Ind. | 23 | 251 | 10.9 | 3 | 66.1 | 39 |
| 2020 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 46 | 524 | 11.4 | 3 | 116.4 | 20 |
| 2020 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 36 | 335 | 9.3 | 1 | 77.5 | 32 |
| 2020 | Richard Rodgers, Phil. | 24 | 345 | 14.4 | 2 | 70.5 | 36 |
| 2020 | Jacob Hollister, Sea. | 25 | 209 | 8.4 | 3 | 65.9 | 40 |
| 2020 | Will Dissly, Sea. | 24 | 251 | 10.5 | 2 | 61.1 | 43 |
| 2020 | Greg Olsen, Sea. | 24 | 239 | 10.0 | 1 | 53.9 | 46 |
| 2021 | David Njoku, Cle. | 36 | 475 | 13.2 | 4 | 107.6 | 22 |
| 2021 | Austin Hooper, Cle. | 38 | 345 | 9.1 | 3 | 92.5 | 24 |
| 2021 | Harrison Bryant, Cle. | 21 | 233 | 11.1 | 3 | 62.3 | 39 |
| 2021 | Brevin Jordan, Hou. | 20 | 178 | 8.9 | 3 | 55.8 | 43 |
| 2021 | Jordan Akins, Hou. | 24 | 214 | 8.9 | 0 | 45.7 | 53 |
| 2021 | Pharaoh Brown, Hou. | 23 | 171 | 7.4 | 0 | 40.1 | 56 |
—Ian Allan