The 2024 Cleveland Browns are wholly forgettable. Between the lack of any good quarterback play, no ground game, and the inability to close out games thanks to numerous turnovers by their four total quarterbacks, the team was just flat out terrible to watch in action.
But, this is just one season removed from an 11-7 season. And, that 2023 year which saw Herculean efforts from Joe Flacco at quarterback support an excellent Browns defense also saw many of the same players from that year stay in Cleveland - Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, and David Njoku, to name a few.
On Radio Row once again this week ahead of Super Bowl LIX, more Browns players were featured and interviewed amid Garrett's public trade request from the Browns earlier in the week. One Cleveland player - Njoku - made his stance on the request plainly known when speaking to a few media members during his appearance on the row.
Njoku makes short plea to Garrett to stay with Cleveland
Njoku expressed to Adam Lefkoe and Mike Golic Jr. during his appearance at their booth on Radio Row on Thursday afternoon that he didn't want Garrett to leave the Browns this offseason. He was asked if he had a "plea" to offer on the situation, and Njoku did just that.
"C'mon dog, just stay home bro. He knows who I'm talking to. C'mon, stay home. Give it a shot. We ain't that far off, honestly speaking," said Njoku.
Read more: Denzel Ward's thoughts on Myles Garrett trade request should scare Browns
He added, "That's my brother, man. We came in the same time, same round, everything. We've been there the same amount of time. We've seen the lowest of the lows, the highest of the highs on our team. I don't think we're done yet. I know he wants to win. I know he wants to be great, he wants to be a champion, and so do I. Stay home, baby. We didn't come this far to just come this far."
Njoku clearly has faith that, assuming Garrett stays, the team can pull themselves together after such an awful season and play winning ball again. Given that the team was just coming off a 2023 season that saw a postseason berth, it's fair to feel like they can get back there again as long as they tweak their quarterback room and offensive line.
But, Njoku wasn't present in whatever meetings Garrett had with Browns brass that led him to make his request public. Clearly, whatever direction that the team is choosing to go in for 2025 - through the draft, through free agency, and on the trade market - doesn't scream "winning ball" to Garrett. While Njoku is right to feel like Cleveland is currently rostering great talent that could win, hypotheticals don't win games.