Njoku rescinds trade request, stays with Browns
Tight end David Njoku wants to remain with the Cleveland Browns after all.
Nearly one month after his agent Drew Rosenhaus asked for his client to be traded, Njoku took to social media to declare that he wants to stay with the Browns.
“I’m all in Cleveland. Time to work,” Njoku posted Saturday on Twitter.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday that Rosenhaus said that his client has had “some good meetings with the new Browns’ organization including GM Andrew Berry and he has decided to give the team his full commitment right now and go from there.”
Rosenhaus’ recent comment is much different than the one from July 3, when he declared that his client wanted out of Cleveland.
“It is in David’s best interest to find a new team at this time,” Rosenhaus told Schefter at the time.
Njoku, 24, is entering his fourth season since the Browns selected him with the 29th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. He had 88 catches for 1,025 yards and eight touchdowns in 32 games (19 starts) through his first two seasons.
He managed just five catches for 41 yards and a touchdown in four games (one start) in a disappointing 2019 campaign, in which he missed time with a broken wrist and was a healthy scratch late in the season.
Njoku said after the season he wasn’t sure if he would be back, but the team picked up his fifth-year option for 2021. The option, worth $6 million, is guaranteed only for injury until next spring. Njoku has a base salary of $1.8 million for 2020.
The Browns also made significant investments elsewhere at tight end this offseason, catering to new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s preference to use multiple tight ends. They signed Austin Hooper to a four-year, $44 million contract and took Harrison Bryant out of Florida Atlantic in the fourth round in April.
–Field Level Media
