Cleveland Browns legend Bernie Kosar believes current Cleveland tight end David Njoku should be mentioned alongside a certain Kansas City Chiefs star in conversations regarding the best players at Njoku's position.
"I love what Travis Kelce’s doing, but David Njoku’s up there as one of the elite tight ends in the game and it’s not just because I’m a Browns fan and it’s not because I’m his friend," Kosar recently told Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "He’s an elite tight end in the league and what he brings now in his ability to catch the ball is awesome. But the way he’s an in-line blocker, you can’t find many guys better than him."
Kelce, of course, is a future Hall of Famer and a three-time Super Bowl champion, a nine-time Pro Bowler and a four-time First-Team All-Pro selection. Meanwhile, Njoku earned the first Pro Bowl nod of his career after he finished the 2023 regular season with career-bests of 81 receptions, 882 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.
"A lot of people when he got drafted maybe were down on him, but he was 20 years old," Kosar said about the Browns making Njoku a first-round draft pick back in 2017. "He’s in his (eighth) year in the league and he’s only 27. A lot of people kind of were on his case back four or five years ago, (but) a lot of people were supportive of him, and he was supportive of himself and it was big when he had that confidence and belief."
Roughly two months after the Browns acquired quarterback Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans in March 2022, they signed Njoku to a four-year contract extension that reportedly could have been worth up to $56.75M with at least $28M guaranteed. Since that deal was inked, Watson has made just 12 regular-season starts with Cleveland.
Watson missed 11 games during the 2022 season while serving a suspension related to accusations of sexual misconduct. He made just six starts this past campaign before he needed surgery to address an injury to his throwing shoulder.
"Hell, yeah, I’m excited for Deshaun, myself and the whole team," Njoku said on Saturday about a Browns club coming off a playoff appearance that they made without Watson. "The energy’s always so high the first few days, so we’ve just got to keep that energy flowing throughout the whole year."
Njoku believes Cleveland's offense will be "juicy" this fall now that Ken Dorsey has replaced Alex Van Pelt as the club's offensive coordinator. Whether or not that proves to be an accurate description may depend on Watson's availability and play from September through January.
