A Cleveland Browns loss has landed them right back in the rumor mill, especially since the brutal 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9 left them dead last in the AFC North and with the team in desperate need of cap space wiggle room ahead of 2025. Deshaun Watson is still on this roster and still owed a $46,000,000 dollar salary next year, so the team is going to have to work around that whether he's suiting up for them or not.
It makes sense then that the team could be looking to not just move Za'Darius Smith - who is rumored to be on the move soon to an NFC powerhouse - but other talented starters with big cap hits set to take hold of their books in 2025 and beyond. According to Pro Football Talk and Mike Florio, a player to watch is rumored to be David Njoku.
Read more: NFL rumors suggest Browns trading Za'Darius Smith to NFC contender is a done deal
"One name to watch is tight end David Njoku. Trading him would trigger a $20.87 million cap charge; keeping him would result in a $14.25 million cash commitment and a cap number of $22.185 million. The key becomes getting draft picks. They’ll need them, given the damage the Deshaun Watson contract will do to the salary cap in the coming years, especially if they release him in 2025," said Florio in his report on Njoku and the Browns' thinking headed into the trade deadline on Nov. 5.
Njoku has been a solid receiving option for Watson and Winston all season long, but he's yet to have a game with over 100 receiving yards. His best game was in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals where he caught for 76 yards and a touchdown. In Week 8, he had another score, so it felt likely he was on the rise headed into Week 9. Unfortunately, with how well the Chargers defense was covering everyone on the Browns yesterday, it was hard for him to gain any separation even for short yardage.
Njoku would be painful to lose - one of the teams' best pass blockers in the open field and one of the Browns' more athletic receiving targets, his send off would signal a full blown strip down for Cleveland as they sit at 2-7 with no answers against a soon to be tough stretch of games. Just like Smith, Njoku could really use a change of scenery to an actually competitive team in need of tight end help. But, not many teams like that exist. Look for an "on the cusp" team like the Indianapolis Colts to potentially seek Njoku's services for a postseason push. He is, of course, used to catching from Joe Flacco.