Is David Njoku Enough?
Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Browns standout David Njoku is a top-tier tight end, but one real option at the position, no matter how good, is a massive risk. If the Browns go into the season without picking up at least one more tight end, they are making a major mistake.
During free agency, the Browns lost 2020 NFL draft pick Harrison Bryant to the Las Vegas Raiders, a loss that they probably should regret, given how Cleveland went about replacing him. Jordan Akins, Giovanni Ricci, and Zaire Mitchell-Paden are left on the Browns roster now.
Akins is 32 years old and has been a serviceable backup at best, but would feel much more at home on a top team as third or fourth on the depth chart. Last season in Cleveland, Akins snagged just 15 passes for 132 yards. Ricci was signed as a depth piece this offseason, but it’s unclear at this point if he can even be called that. In 36 games played during his career, he has caught nine passes for 102 yards and zero touchdowns. Fourth-string tight end Mitchell-Paden has only been active for one NFL game during his career, and it’s hard to imagine he will be on the active roster this season.
There’s just such a massive gap between Njoku and his backup options. Last season, Njoku caught 81 passes for 882 yards and six touchdowns. The other tight ends on the roster combined for less than 150 yards receiving and zero touchdowns.
Njoku recently talked about new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s offense and how he believes he can thrive, which makes the lack of signing of a second tight end even more confusing. “It is juicy,” Njoku said of Dorsey’s offense. “I am not going to say anything else. Leave it at that. But I’m really excited for this year.”
Dorsey had one full season in charge of the Buffalo Bills offense, which happened to be the season that Dawson Knox earned his only Pro Bowl Selection. Head coach Kevin Stefanski has always loved tight ends, all the way back to being the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, when they ran the two most tight end sets in the NFL.
The Browns missed out on the big wave of free-agent signings at the position. Due to their balancing the salary cap, they decided they didn’t have enough to spend on a top-tier tight end. The play that would have made the most sense would have been bringing back Bryant instead of letting him go to Las Vegas.
Luckily, there are still a few tight ends that might not be the sexiest signings but would be major upgrades over the current roster. Last season, Jimmy Graham caught only six passes for the New Orleans Saints, but four of those ended in a touchdown. The threat of him scoring could open up the rest of the offense and give Jerry Juedy, Amari Cooper, and company even better opportunities. Even someone like Geoff Swaim, who caught 10 passes last season with the Arizona Cardinals, would be an upgrade over a couple of the tight ends currently on the roster.
The Browns could also try to trade for someone like Mo Alie-Cox, who is entering his contract’s final year. Alie-Cox is entering the final year of his contract and is scheduled to have a cap hit of $5.92 million this upcoming season. Currently, he’s listed as third on the Indianapolis Colts depth chart, leaving the possibility open for Indy to trade him before the season starts. Last season, he caught 13 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers would probably go up more as Alie-Cox should many more opportunities on the Browns.
The pickings might be slim at this point of the offseason, but the Browns need at least one more move to try and improve the tight end. Cleveland has a solid offense and talent all over the field, which makes the second tight end spot stand out as a major hole. The Browns need to improve the second tight end spot, or they will kick themselves later in the season when it hinders them from their goal of a Super Bowl. It might take getting creative, but they simply have to find a way to get some depth behind Njoku.
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