The New England Patriots still face a need to address the tight end position to bolster the supporting cast around new quarterback Cam Newton. With David Njoku requesting a trade from the Cleveland Browns, there’s opportunity for the Patriots.
In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Patriots used two of their three selections in the third round on the tight end position with Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene. Relying on rookies beyond a rotational capacity wouldn’t be the best strategy to maximize success in 2020.
Taking that into consideration, Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston stated that Njoku would be an ‘enticing player’ for the Patriots to pursue despite a restrictive salary cap landscape.
They remain tight to the salary cap (a little more than $1.2M in cap space according to Pats cap expert Miguel Benzan), the number of players who’ll actually be allowed in training camp remains in flux, the NFL is pilfering one of their third-round picks for the videotaping silliness last season … there are just a lot of moving parts right now.
Still, Browns’ tight end David Njoku? That’s an enticing player at a position of need.
Managing to land a talent like Njoku would add further balance to the Patriots’ offense. Newton will have a receiving corps starting with Julian Edelman along with Mohamed Sanu and N’Keal Harry, but the tight end spot could use a boost.
The Patriots would need to make an enticing trade offer to the Browns since Cleveland certainly does not have to trade Njoku. Despite the tight end’s trade request, the team considers him a ‘big part’ of their plans.
Simply put, the Browns won’t be placed in a compromised position by Njoku because of their depth at tight end. They signed Austin Hooper in free agency and selected Harrison Bryant in the fourth-round in the 2020 NFL Draft, so they can operate without Njoku.
The 2021 season will be the final year of David Njoku’s contract and he will look to re-establish his value. He hauled in five catches for 41 yards in four games in 2019 before being placed on Injured Reserve as the result of a wrist injury.
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