The Cleveland Browns have a host of questions heading into the 2025 season, most importantly who is going to start at quarterback.
Whoever wins the job will have his work cut out for him, as the Browns have one of the emptiest cupboards with regards to pass-catching options in the NFL. The top option in the wide receivers room is clearly Jerry Jeudy, after he produced a career campaign in 2024 with 90 catches, 1,229 receiving yards and 4 TDs.
The No. 2 option in the pass game is likely to be tight end David Njoku, a Pro Bowler in 2023, who missed six games last season with ankle and hamstring injuries. Njoku produced career highs of 81 catches for 882 receiving yards and 6 TDs two years ago.
However, those numbers dipped to 64 catches, 505 yards and 5 scores last season. Njoku is entering his age-29 campaign, and Sterling Xie of Pro Football Network on Friday, May 2, dubbed the tight end as the Browns’ most likely trade candidate this offseason.
Njoku is nearing the end of his second contract, with 2025 being the last year of his [$55 million] deal. Cleveland potentially implemented a succession plan during the draft, using a third-round pick on Harold Fannin Jr. The Bowling Green tight end will need to adjust to a massive jump in competition, but the 2024 FBS leader in receiving yards could be a passing game weapon right away.
For a rebuilding Browns team, that may make Njoku a valuable trade commodity. … A team could reasonably want to trade and extend him, giving the Browns a chance to add even more draft capital as they seek to potentially make a move to the top of the 2026 draft for a franchise quarterback.
Browns Have Possible QB Carousel Within Own Locker Room
Getty| Quarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
The NFL’s quarterback carousel every offseason offers plenty of fodder for content and debate, though Cleveland has its own mini version of that in the locker room this summer.
The Browns drafted Dillon Gabriel out of Oregon at the end of the third round and traded up to select Shedeur Sanders out of Colorado with the No. 144 overall pick in the fifth round. The team also traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for Kenny Pickett and signed Joe Flacco to a one-year deal in free agency this offseason.
Then, there is the ever-present Deshaun Watson, who has two years remaining on his fully-guaranteed $230 million deal and is rehabilitating his twice-torn Achilles tendon with no firm return date in 2025.
Browns Likely to Trade, Cut Either Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett at Some Point in Offseason
Getty| Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco.
Given Watson’s contract, the Browns are unlikely to cut him. Beyond that, the QB is completely untradeable, which means he’s likely to remain part of the organization in 2025, even if it is highly unlikely that he plays a single down under any circumstances.
Sanders and Gabriel are recent draft picks with unknown upside playing on inexpensive rookie deals, which means both are likely to remain on the roster for multiple years. The most likely exit for either player would be via a trade, though, not a cut.
That leaves Flacco, who led the Browns to the playoffs in 2023 but is 40 years old and presumably on the cusp of retirement. It also leaves Pickett, who is entering the fourth year of his contract and is a winning QB as an NFL starter. Pickett doesn’t have nearly the resumé or the connection to Cleveland fans that Flacco does, but he is 14 years younger.
The Browns can part ways with either player via a release and pay essentially the same amount to do so (approximately $3 million). One will likely have to go by the time the regular season rolls around, though injuries and QB shortages around the league could put Cleveland in position to trade either Flacco or Pickett and get an asset in return.
