It's Up To David Njoku Where He Goes From Here
When there was no interest from the Cleveland Browns to trade him or other teams to acquire him, David Njoku and his agent tried to make a positive out of a humbling series of events, rescinding his trade demand and noting how excited he was to be a member of the Browns.
The Browns have done their best to avoid embarrassing Njoku in this situation, simply saying they have plans for him in their offense and want him to be a part of their team. It's up to Njoku to decide how he responds to the situation, embracing the opportunity to shine in the Browns offense and taking it as a challenge to make himself the player he's capable.
All too often, Njoku has said all the right things in public while being immature and at times childish dealing with coaches and the organization in general. Switching agents to demand a trade on fourth of July weekend was evidence of that streak. Njoku wants to be a superstar and was putting the cart before the horse, impatient to try to cash in on a new contract. Drew Rosenhaus was whispering sweet nothings into his Njoku's ear about his greatness and how he was the agent that could get him what he wanted, what he deserved.
Njoku has now been served a harsh reality check. The Browns believe in his ability, but at this point, no one else does enough to trade for him. The Browns saw where his career was headed at the end of his second year when he took massive step forwards in December particularly and believe he can reach his potential. Last year was an utter disaster due to the wrist injury, but Njoku did himself no favors with his professionalism or lack thereof when he returned from injury.
With the hire of Kevin Stefanski as head coach and Andrew Berry as general manager, the team offered him a clean slate while guaranteeing him his fifth-year option. Njoku responded by demanding a trade, worrying about securing his second contract as a featured option when he hasn't proven he's a top tight end.
At the very least, Njoku should've learned that Rosenhaus is not interested in serving the interests of the client, only himself. Now, Njoku is trying his best to avoid having to answer uncomfortable questions the next time he has a media ability. That's going to be another heaping serving of humble pie because he listened to Rosenhaus.
Njoku still has the opportunity to prove himself a star tight end. He can also secure himself a lucrative second contract, which could still come from the Browns. There is no team in the NFL that is more set up to create favorable matchups for Njoku than his current one. Austin Hooper should demand the opponent's best defender for tight ends and having both Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry should eliminate the potential for double teams in the form of boxed coverage. That's without considering the pressure Nick Chubb puts on the defense. In essence, if Njoku can't succeed in the Browns offense as its constituted, he's not going to succeed.
Should Njoku choose to sulk, he's the one that's going to suffer for it. If he can see the positive side of this, he should be looking through the schedule and figuring out how little teams will be able to dedicate him, which should allow him to shine. More than anything, he should be focused only on what it's going to take him to be a great player and letting that dictate his value rather than an agent can successfully grift a team into giving him millions of dollars he doesn't warrant.
The Browns are giving Njoku every opportunity to be successful. It's up to him if he's going to embrace it or if he's going to be focused on contrived insults and what he believes he's entitled and isn't getting. Njoku's attitude is going to have a major impact on how effective he will be for the Browns this year.
