David Njoku's future with the Cleveland Browns revealed

David Njoku's time as a member of the Cleveland Browns may be coming to a close.

Nearly one year since the front office decided to take Harold Fannin Jr. in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the team may be moving a direction that doesn't see Njoku involved in the future plans.

A discussion began on the BIGPLAY Sports Network about whether or not Njoku would be with the organization heading into the 2026 season. Xavier Crocker, better known as Chef Zae of the "Honor The Land" show, spoke to a question from his co-host, Max Loeb, about the 29-year-old's next chapter in his NFL journey.

"He's gone. I got a source that said from the horse's mouth that he said, 'nah that ship has sailed,'" Zae said. "From David Njoku's mouth saying that 'I'm gone.'"

Is David Njoku as good as gone from the Browns? #DawgPound @chefzae23 has heard HEAVY rumors that the ship has sailed. 👀

presented by @FanDuel https://t.co/MOO6UCXg9w pic.twitter.com/dfFy6jJgkm
— Honor The Land (@honortheland) January 12, 2026

The downfall of Njoku in Cleveland

It's hard not to be torn over the former Miami Hurricane, who was slected with the 29th overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft. Cleveland took a chance on the elite pass catcher, knowing he needed to grow as a blocker in both the passing and rushing game.

Nine seasons removed from the Browns front office decision to take Njoku, he's developed into an all-around talent.

He can block well, he can still make elite grabs and he can create chunk plays with his legs. Arguably, he's one of the most athletic tight ends in the sport. Back in 2023, he had his best season of professional ball, hauling in 81 catches for 882 yards and six touchdowns, all of which were career-highs, en route to an All-Star selection.

But through the following two campaigns combined, he barely surpassed some of those marks.

While dealing with injuries and a decrease in involvement on the offense due to Fannin Jr.'s breakout, he caught 97 passes for 798 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024 and 2025. As he slowly approaches 30-years-old as well, he's only going to continue slowly declining in both his jumping abilities and speed.

He's also going to become more injury-prone, something that's apparent when noting that he only played in 11 games in 2024 and 12 games in 2025. He ended up missing the final few games of this past season, marking what could be the end of his journey in the orange and brown.

“Disappointed for Dave,” former head coach Kevin Stefanski said prior to the season-finale. “It’s part of the game. Sometimes you’re unable to go because of your body, and he’ll work really hard to get as healthy as he can get. But yes, disappointing for him and that’s unfortunate.”

He has a clear value to the culture that's been created in Cleveland over the past few seasons, but his involvement on the gridiron has been increasingly more questionable. With the Browns, his contractual value of anywhere from $8 to $12 million seems unlikely for the team to be interested in shelling out. After all, due to his contract being restructured in years past, he'll weigh on the books through 2029.

If this is the end of the line, the Browns will know that they at least have gotten nine seasons out of one of the organization's best tight ends in history.