The Cleveland Browns haven’t exactly surrounded rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel with a wealth of playmaking talent, and the cupboard could get emptier ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline on Nov. 4.
Jared Mueller of SB Nation dubbed tight end David Njoku among the most likely trade candidates on Cleveland’s roster on Saturday.
“[Njoku is] an interesting case where his value might be higher somewhere else where he is getting more targets and asked to block/chip less,” Mueller wrote.
Njoku hasn’t gotten the type of attention he did during his Pro Bowl season of 2023 when he produced career highs across the board with 81 catches for 882 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
That said, Gabriel targeted Njoku a team-leading nine times in the QB’s first career start last week against the Minnesota Vikings in London. Njoku led the offense with six catches for 67 yards and one score.
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A total of 19 of Gabriel’s 32 registered targets last Sunday were aimed at tight ends or running backs, and 14 of his 19 completions went to players at those positions, as did both of his touchdown passes.
That wasn’t an accident, but rather by design. Cleveland wants Gabriel to make quick decisions, high-percentage passes and avoid turnovers — all of which he did in a narrow four-point loss to the Vikings.
As such, moving on from Njoku doesn’t read like the best decision for the output of the Browns’ offense in the weeks to come, as Gabriel is now QB1, nor does it seem like the best strategy for the signal-caller’s development. That said, Njoku is 29 years old and in the final season of his four-year, $54.75 million contract.
Cleveland drafted rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. in the third round, and he has been arguably the team’s best pass-catcher through five weeks. He is also far less expensive than Njoku is now, or will be moving forward on a new deal spanning multiple years.
The Browns currently start five rookies across both sides of the football and are stacking picks in 2026 to get younger, healthier and cheaper.
Meanwhile, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report noted on Oct. 7 that the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Chargers, both playoff hopefuls with winning records, could use a pass-catching tight end and would be fits for Njoku ahead of the trade deadline.
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