The Cleveland Browns can use some good news this week. They just dropped to 3-11 on the season and yet, they're still far from getting the top pick in 2025's NFL Draft.
Adding insult to injury, there are no really great quarterbacks for them to choose from in the draft, so the draft is going to be even tougher to square with their current roster given that discrepancy.
So, Cleveland can only hope to land somewhere in the top five of the draft and rebuild some reinforcements at offensive line, running back, and defensive line for next season as the team seems primed to run it back with, well, everyone. That means it's time to take a hard look at not just the coaching the Browns front office wants to retain, but the players, as well.
Read more: Browns appear willing to accept mediocrity by running it back next season
Two players the Browns absolutely need to ensure they can retain headed into next season are Cedric Tillman and David Njoku.
Kevin Stefanski offers positive update on Cedric Tillman & David Njoku ahead of Week 16
Tillman, a 24 year old receiver with Cleveland since last season, was showing some major signs of progression as a favorite target of Jameis Winston's up until he suffered a concussion in the teams' Week 12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, he's been slowly but surely working his way back to practicing fully with the team but has yet to return to action.
But, head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Monday ahead of a week of practice for their Week 16 bout against the Cincinnati Bengals that he's "hopeful" that Tillman could return for the divisional game, but offered some caution as he told reporters that he also wanted to see how he looked in practice before making an official determination about his availability.
He also threw Njoku into that update, as the tight end was sorely missed in the Browns' game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15. Njoku is another popular target of Winston's, but it remains unclear whether Winston will even be the quarterback for Cleveland in Week 16 and beyond. His multiple turnovers might have sealed his fate to ride the bench for these last three games.
Tillman and Njoku are two young players that are, thankfully, signed with the Browns through the 2025 season - Tillman is still on his rookie deal, while Njoku signed a deal through 2025 with the team back in 2022. It'll be great to get them back on the field and get some live action under their belts before a long and surely arduous offseason for the team.