DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Trading Njoku?

First let me say I hope we keep Njoku, but it sounds like he is headed out the door, According to Albert Breer the have put David Njoku on the trade Market. If we were to trade it would give the Browns another $6,013,00 on the cap, so what would you think we could get in return foe him?

Knowing how much Stefanski likes his TE's, We'd have to replace him. So we will probably end up spending that on his replacement. Or something close.

Not enough to make it worthwhile. I'm not sure if he's on the block so much as other teams keep asking about him.

he's more valuable on the team than traded for a conditional 7th.

The asking price last year was a third round pick. If we got that it’d be hard to keep him as he’s probably gone after 2021 no matter what.

he has 1 year left... we would be lucky to get a 6th or 7th

That was the asking price... and we didn't get it. Now we're 1 year closer to his second contract.

Without even getting into the draft compensation to trade him... as Daman said, we're going to have to get someone to replace him. Maybe they're hoping that Bryant makes big strides in his development after last year and having a proper offseason under his belt, but they'll still have to sign someone (cutting into the cap savings) or hope that another TE they really like falls into their lap in the draft.

I see this similarly as the Clayborne cut. Cap savings is great and all, but they just created a hole that they'll have to fill... most likely with a FA that costs $.

I don’t see us trading him.

It would nice to get David Njoku in return for David Njoku.

What, do you guys hate winning?

i agree... I would think we keep him unless we get a 4th or better... and I doubt we'd get anywhere close to that...

I'm not sure trading him makes more sense than it doesn't make sense. I suppose if they are very strict about their cap space, maybe. I know chief didn't get the numbers, but I think its safe to say he's a better player than he was the last year when this was a possibility. Again without the numbers its hard to say if his hands have gotten better (although personally I don't think they are/were as bad as some others feel) but his blocking is almost day and night better.

Plus, if by trading him they create a hole, it makes more sense to just keep him. We may only get one more year out of him, but it'll be a year he's going to want to shine before getting that second contract.

would only trade him if they can get cap relief along with improvement in the places where we lag... like Linebacker.

Would also have to guarantee the FO is confident there is another quality TE in the draft that they can also target.

Such a weird precarious position the Browns are in.. The team is primed to be good and also get better with another year of consistency. They're getting players back who can contribute as well. They don't have to be the team scrambling to find pieces. They can wait for the opportunities to come to them.

I don't know.

Hooper is a solid TE. In Atlanta where he got the looks, he was a pro-bowl player. There is no reason he can't do that here.

Bryant had a good rookie season and there is no reason to think he won't improve.

I like Carlson. He hasn't been used much, but he has flashed when he has. I think he could be a major surprise to many.

A 4th TE, sign or keep any number of TE's that can he had on the cheap, or drafted rookie. They are a dime a dozen.

I will be fine if we keep Joke, but to me he is just another in a long line of over rated players to which the fans cling. No doubt he has some talent, but the reality is he is pretty much the 3rd TE on the team. If we can trade him to gain a pick, AND to save money we can then allocate to a position of more critical need, it's a no brainer, do it.

I agree with that. That may be what we are being offered, and then if so, that tells us something about how he is viewed by other teams around the league.

To turn that around, I don't like paying what we do for a guy getting 7th round offers.(If that is what we are getting)

He isn't a star TE, so we aren't going to get premium pick offers. Joke would also have to agree to a contract renegotiation. I don't think teams want to pay him what we are paying him.

If someone offers a mid-5th rounder, take it. Take the money savings and select a lineman of some sort who might turn in to a player who can help. Keep the pipeline stocked with players who might help in a few years. Guys like Bitonio and Treeter and out of here in a season or two.

We are at the point where roster purge isn't going to be regulated to the bottom of the roster. Good teams have to make hard decisions on good players all the time.

As fans, we need to adjust our thinking and think like fans of a winner. It's time we dump the loser mentality.

That isn't a jab at anyone. It's just the reality of the situation.

I disagree, in that his main problem (IMO) has always been his hands. They've been unreliable throughout his career. IMO, with his size and speed he could've gotten past his lack of blocking as one of those guys who's a TE in name only, really just a WR.

I just don't get the infatuation with a TE that has averaged 420 yards and less than 3 TDs per season for the last 4 years he's been here.

Njoku is athletic, but from what I see, he is very stiff and robotic in his movements. Being a former track guy, he looks like a track guy to me. He has unreliable hands, and he is a poor route runner. He did improve his blocking late last year, but before that, it was pretty bad.

Saving $6M this offseason will allow the Browns to sign 2 veteran players who would bothbe able to contribute just as much as Njoku has. There is going to be a lot of good vets signing 1 year deals for $2-3M.

jc

If we were to trade Njoku I think the best deal would be in a player for player swap rather than draft pick compensation.
Seems to me that the perfect destination for David would be the Patriots. They need some offensive firepower and he would fit perfect into the Aaron Hernandez role in their offense.

Would you trade Njoku for Stephon Gilmore straight up?
He has a reasonable 2021 salary but that is the last year on his contract.
He is also recovering from a quad injury which per Patriotswire is affecting his trade value



Report: Stephon Gilmore injury is limiting his trade market

Danny Jaillet
Mon, March 8, 2021, 4:09 PM·1 min read

The New England Patriots may want to trade one of their biggest stars, however an injury is complicating things, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Stéphon Gilmore’s season-ending quad injury against Miami has reportedly made trade discussions a little bit more difficult. In his Monday Morning Quarterback column, Breer indicated that the injury has been hampering trade talks. Before the injury, he was expected to be heavily sought after. Now, that may be a little bit different.

As Breer notes, New England did not offer him a contract extension during the season, meaning that he is set to make just $7.91 million in 2021. This certainly does add another layer to these talks.

“Gilmore’s injury at the end of the year complicates what seemed to be a fait accompli in midseason—that Gilmore would be traded to a place that would be willing to pay him what New England didn’t want to on an extension,” Breer writes. “Gilmore’s number for 2021 is just $7.91 million. Whether he’d play at that number elsewhere is another question.”

With the emergence of J.C. Jackson at the position, this does make Gilmore more expendable for the Patriots. However, finding a suitor may prove to be more difficult than before.

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-stephon-gilmore-injury-limiting-210922194.html

Which teams would like a TE?

New England? New Orleans? Carolina?

I'll preface with I don't think we're going to move him. That's mostly because he still adds value to the roster, and I would hate to move him just to move him and get peanuts in return. Moving him would also open up a hole with how important good TEs are to this team, so we'd just have to pay someone else to take his place (we'd probably end up saving a little $, but the juice probably wouldn't be worth the squeeze... Njoku is already familiar in the offense and has shown the ability to contribute).

As much as I don't expect him to be traded, I also don't expect him to get a second contract here.

If we don’t move him and he goes to FA after next season we’d get a comp pick likely higher than any pick we’d get for him in a trade. Right?
Keep him. Let him play the season. If he booms, try and resign him. If he continues his meh numbers let him go and take the compensatory pick.

I'd never considered that tactic.... and I think I like that the most. It also further emphasizes that we shouldn't consider any offer lower than a 3rd because there's a good chance that is what he represents to us as a compensatory pick.

Why trade a talented guy under 25 when it looked like things were starting to click for him in an offense that emphasizes his position?

If we go big in FA this year, we probably won't next season. See if we can get a compensatory pick for Njoku then, which could be higher than what is being offered now. If he studs out, we can tag him, run a year with him and Hooper, then in 2023 move/release Hooper (when we can finally get out of his deal without >10M dead cap) and give Njoku the #1 TE-type deal. If I thought last season was as good as he was going to get, sure, trade him. But, I see him as an ascending player that finally has competent coaching.

Stefanski has mentioned trying to get more explosive on offense multiple times. If that's the case, getting rid of your most explosive TE doesn't add up to me.

We’d get a comp pick only if we didn’t sign many free agents.

I'd like to keep him. I think he will be better than what we've seen. He is young and still has upside. JMO

Add to that the nagging suspicion I have that he'll go to another AFC team, the spark will light in his head and he'll rip it up elsewhere.

It's happened to us before.

Is this true? My perception is that our players are so bad that they don’t succeed when they are cut loose. I am not considering guys that were already quality player like Mitchell Schwartz or Joe Haden.

I can't think of a single guy that we let go and then he turned into a stud. We've definitely played the role of farm team for a fair number of guys, but that's a little different.

add: that WR Snead was with us and we cut him.

Corbett is starting at G for the Rams and Reiter has been starting at C for the Chiefs. Both had PFF grades over 70 last season.

Good call on Corbett. Reiter had some injury issues and was acquired same offseason as Tretter, IIRC, and didn't play much while he was here (and contributed to him leaving).

If that’s the worst of it then it’s not really a problem.

IMO his catching has improved, as did his blocking.

That's pretty much the way I see it. Two players since 1999 is more of an oddity than a trend.

Another thing I think about is our TEs' spider graphs:

Njoku: link

Hooper: link

Bryant: link

Bryant's looks... underwhelming at best. Hooper's doesn't look bad, but it has a couple extra categories that make it look better than it is. Njoku's looks explosive and has comps like George Kittle. Hooper's best comp might be Tony Moeaki.

Njoku's athletic and his blocking has picked up. We had him successfully blocking Frank Clark in pass pro on an island by himself in the playoffs.

lol at Bryant's TRex arms....

Nobody, not once, has ever doubted Njoku's measurables. The problem is we're still mostly talking about his potential going into year 5. The conversation has shifted somewhat because he's picked it up at the very end of last year... but when viewed within his entire sample of work you have to wonder if it was a fluke. He could just as well regress back to his mean (comically poor blocking and alligator-arming critical passes) as he could continue to improve. Combine that with his wanting out and I just think he'll get his wish after his 5th year. I had kinda given up on the guy coming into this year, so it's a little hard for me to jump back on that bandwagon. Him playing well this year will earn him a big contract somewhere, and will obviously help the Browns in games.

Those measurables are probably why Hunter Bryant fell in the draft despite being the most productive tight end in college football.

Those spider graphs are great for the measurables. What they don’t show is a player’s ‘feel for the game’. Bryant’s short arms aren’t what got him the accolades. It was easy to see he has a natural feel for the game. For the position he plays. In his rookie year he showed me he had a knack for finding the soft spots in zones. Slowing down and giving a target for Baker as he crossed through those zones. Etc. I saw more of that in Bryant last year than I’ve seen from Njoku in his career here. Njoku is a great athlete. No doubt. Until he shows he can be an NFL TE, by displaying the subtleties of the position, he’ll never live up to his physical potential. Size snd speed are great tools but guys like Julian Edelman excel in this league for a reason. It’s not because they’re 5’10 and run a 4.5. They’re great at the small stuff. Njoku... not so much. Can he make the leap? Maybe. Thus far I’ve not seen anything to me in his play that indicates he’s a ‘natural’ at the position.
Prove me wrong Njoku. I dare you.