David Njoku Wouldn’t Make Sense For The Kansas City Chiefs, Analyst Says
The Kansas City Chiefs would not make a good landing spot for David Njoku. Despite the Cleveland Browns’ star asking for a trade, Arrowhead Addict‘s Matt Conner thinks the Chiefs should stay far away from the tight end unless the asking price is significantly lower than initial reports suggested.
Conner said that, in a vacuum, the idea of the Chiefs going out and getting a good, young player like Njoku sounds attractive; that would be true of any team in the NFL. But, the analyst said, trades don’t happen in a vacuum. There are plenty of external factors that need to be considered.
Among the factors that should make Njoku a no-go for the Chiefs is that the team already has a very good tight end. Travis Kelce is arguably the best player in the league at the position. Then, Conner said, there is the issue of the team’s salary cap problems.
The team is already trying to sign defensive end Chris Jones and starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes to long term deals. These efforts haven’t been successful because of how little room the team has to maneuver under the salary cap.
Jones, especially, is a thorn in the Chiefs’ side because he’s started talking about holding out if he has to play the 2020 season under the franchise tag. Conner said, with all that still on the horizon, trading for Njoku just doesn’t make much sense.
He added that Chiefs fans have long been looking to improve the backup tight end position, wanting an upgrade over the likes of Demetrius Harris. For years, the analyst said, the Chiefs general managers have decided it was better to focus elsewhere. A steady parade of backup tight ends like Harris, Ross Travis, Blake Bell, and Ricky Seals-Jones have “waltzed” in and out of Kansas City.
While Conner believes Njoku would be an upgrade over any of those players, he doesn’t think there’s any chance he’s coming to the Chiefs. He added he doesn’t believe Njoku would be happy being traded to the Chiefs.
Reports indicate one of the big reasons Njoku wants out of the Browns is because they went and signed Austin Hooper to a four-year contract. If he doesn’t like the competition in Cleveland, Njoku isn’t going to love being the obvious backup to Kelce. While he doesn’t control where he’s going to be traded, Conner thinks he would make some noise if he were about to get dealt to a situation that would be arguably worse for him. That, the analyst said, absolutely describes the Chiefs.
