Kansas City Chiefs don’t need to trade for David Njoku
David Njoku wants a trade from Cleveland, but the Kansas City Chiefs don’t need to be the team who trades for him.
Earlier on in free agency, I wanted the Kansas City Chiefs to explore trading for Browns tight end David Njoku because they had a strong need for a backup behind Travis Kelce.
Fast forward a few weeks later and the Chiefs brought in Ricky Seals-Jones, another former Browns tight end. Seals-Jones provided the Chiefs with the backup tight end they needed and they didn’t have to break the bank to do it, giving him a one-year deal for just $925,000.
Had the Chiefs instead traded for Njoku, they’d have had to give up draft picks, which isn’t ideal for a team looking to give their quarterback a huge amount of money in the coming months. Draft picks are going to become even more important for this franchise in the near future.
1/2 Browns’ TE David Njoku and his agent Drew Rosenhaus asked today for the team to trade him. The Browns told Njoku they would like to keep him, but Rosenhaus told them he’s intent on a trade. They want a trade before training camp.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 3, 2020
Kelce is arguably the best tight end in the league and the Chiefs are lucky to have him. That being said, they haven’t had a decent backup for him since the 2014 season.
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It hasn’t mattered much to this point, but Kelce is getting older. Injuries are more likely to happen as players age, so giving him a backup is a wise move. Seals-Jones, who has spent time with the Cardinals and Browns, is a good choice and the Chiefs gave him the “prove it” deal to show that he’s the answer as the TE2 in Kansas City.
Njoku would have been a good fit with the Chiefs offense, but injuries plagued his 2019 season to the point where Cleveland brought in Austin Hooper, the best tight end on the free agent market. Njoku obviously knew the Browns were planning to give Hooper a bigger role and that’s why he asked for a trade.
It’d be the same story for him in Kansas City, but with an even better tight end ahead of him on the depth chart. The biggest difference is that Njoku would have a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs, which wouldn’t be the case for him in Cleveland.
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If the Chiefs did decide to trade for Njoku, it would add explosiveness to their offense (as I wrote about in March), but backup tight end isn’t a position of need anymore. Here’s to hoping a team in the AFC West doesn’t bring David Njoku in!