Terms of deal: $56.75 Million; $28 Million guaranteed. "The deal nets Njoku $14.1875 million per season -- the fourth-highest average in the NFL at his position, per NFL Research."
The 2017 1st Round TE Troika Class has now reached a second contract and the marketplace has spoken. O.J. Howard was the 19th pick and has signed a reported 1-Year deal worth $3.5 million that could reach $5 Million with incentives.
Our very own Evan Engram was the 23rd pick and has signed a reported 1-Year deal with Jacksonville worth $9 Million fully guaranteed that could reach $10 Million with incentives.
Of the three, O.J. Howard ended up with the worst deal even though he was picked before the other two. Such are the vagaries of the NFL Draft. David Njoku was the 29th pick and one can assume based on his contract the best of the three.
In comparing Evan Engram with David Njoku, both have played in 65 NFL games, but Engram far surpasses Njoku in passes caught (262 vs 148) and receiving yardage (2,828 vs 1,754.) So, why the robust second deal for Njoku and the 1-year prove-it deal for Engram? My assumption is Njoku can block, and Engram cannot.
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This contract appears to be an overpay, but maybe that is the "Baker Mayfield" factor?
They figure Mayfield sucked so bad all the receivers under-performed.
This Njoku contract makes no sense.
Seems high, but it is for just one year.
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Just glad it wasn’t us.
Seems high, but it is for just one year.
We paid him $7m for his fifth year. That was for just one year and was, I believe, a massive overpay.
Stupid contract for Njoku as well, $28M guaranteed?? For what...
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Travis Kelce signed a 4 year, $57,250,000 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including $22,750,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $14,312,500.
This Njoku contract makes no sense.
I don't usually call NFL contracts horrific since its usually overly dramatic, but this is certainly up there.
Njoku has been an afterthought in the NFL. A complete non-factor the majority of his career. Very strange. Only thing I can think of is that the guarantees are front loaded to sync with Watson's low year 1, but who knows.
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Travis Kelce signed a 4 year, $57,250,000 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including $22,750,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $14,312,500.
This Njoku contract makes no sense.
I don't usually call NFL contracts horrific since its usually overly dramatic, but this is certainly up there.
Njoku has been an afterthought in the NFL. A complete non-factor the majority of his career. Very strange. Only thing I can think of is that the guarantees are front loaded to sync with Watson's low year 1, but who knows.
In all fairness, this IS Cleveland we’re talking about..
that we are all just a little too close to Evan Engram and maybe TOO acutely aware of his silly/crazy plays over the years, such as:
(1) Having the ball go off his hands for an INT;
(2) Settling in coverage when he should have kept moving;
(3) Moving when he should have settled down;
(4) Air-blocking a defender and injuring himself in the effort.
And that's not all.
But, then again, maybe we've been too harsh on the guy and have not fully appreciated the stats he HAS put up despite playing for inept offenses.
that we are all just a little too close to Evan Engram and maybe TOO acutely aware of his silly/crazy plays over the years, such as:
(1) Having the ball go off his hands for an INT;
(2) Settling in coverage when he should have kept moving;
(3) Moving when he should have settled down;
(4) Air-blocking a defender and injuring himself in the effort.
And that's not all.
But, then again, maybe we've been too harsh on the guy and have not fully appreciated the stats he HAS put up despite playing for inept offenses.
It’s not the plays he makes which are ok even with the drops. It’s what he does or doesn’t do for the other 55 plays.
The Browns can see a guy who has developed ability in all phases and they don't want to let him go and see another team benefit from that development.
The stats don't shout dramatic development but he was splitting time with Austin Hooper last year and Mayfield had the bad shoulder.
At the start of FA, PFF projected Njoku for a 3/37.5 deal.
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He was much better, much more productive, on patterns to the outside/along the sidelines. Don't know if it was fear of being hit in the traffic and/or an inability to focus there, maybe the same.
Or, maybe they feel they can get more out of the player than his original team.
In all fairness, this IS Cleveland we’re talking about.
This is the first thing that came to mind.
that we are all just a little too close to Evan Engram and maybe TOO acutely aware of his silly/crazy plays over the years, such as:
(1) Having the ball go off his hands for an INT;
(2) Settling in coverage when he should have kept moving;
(3) Moving when he should have settled down;
(4) Air-blocking a defender and injuring himself in the effort.
And that's not all.
But, then again, maybe we've been too harsh on the guy and have not fully appreciated the stats he HAS put up despite playing for inept offenses.
No we haven’t been too hard. He is a good athlete and a bad football player. Engram and his poor play and mistakes have hurt the Offense as much as anyone over the years.
The idea that couldn’t have been figured out over the last several seasons by our moron GM and taken a draft pick in trade when offered is just icing on the cake...
I hate when teams do this because it just sets the contract bar even higher for players that are actually good.
the only logic that might make a little sense is extending him now, before his stats improve with Watson and more playing time.
i've watched a lot of njoku going back to miami and im not sure he'll ever be more than an oversized big play guy kind of like Jared Cook. but in the new world of WR contracts and TE contracts to come (Waller) maybe they think it's worth the risk knowing they can always cut him a couple years down the line.
He has ability to threaten defenses on the move
Continues to amaze me the last couple of years he was used primarily as a curl route player