David Njoku Reverses Course, Says He’s ‘All In’ With The Cleveland Browns

David Njoku has decided that he wants to play for the Cleveland Browns after all. He issued a post on Twitter on Saturday announcing that he was “all in” and that it’s time to get to work.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported shortly after the post that sources told her it did indeed mean he had reversed course from an earlier position, where he asked for a trade.

Njoku’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, officially asked for the trade just ahead of the July 4 holiday, though the Browns had long said they weren’t interested in dealing the player. It appears conversations between the team and the tight end are the reason for the change of heart.

Cabot said Rosenhaus emailed her after a request for comment. In the email he said Njoku had some “good meetings” with the club in the last few weeks. General Manager Andrew Berry and Njoku reportedly had some one-on-one talks which helped convince the player to drop his demands for a trade.

Njoku did report to camp when he was supposed to, and reportedly did so with a “great attitude.” He is said to be in great shape as well and worked hard over the offseason to report in top shape for this coming season.

Njoku is also said to really believe new head coach Kevin Stefanski wants to work with him. There were reports at the time of the trade request that part of the issue was that the tight end was worried his role would be diminished in the new offense. Stefanski is known for running a two tight end set. A great deal of his offense when he was with the Minnesota Vikings used that formation.

“My stance hasn’t changed,” Stefanski said in a Zoom conference call with reporters earlier this week. “The organization’s stance hasn’t changed in that we believe in David, excited to work with him. I will get to finally be in the same room as him this weekend as he is coming in for physicals and then get out on the field with him Monday.”

After Njoku made it clear he didn’t want to return to the team in 2020, he received quite a bit of backlash from fans, according to Cabot. In late July, he addressed that response, saying he loved the city of Cleveland but that things were at play that was bigger than that.

Now, after a series of meetings with the Browns front office, Njoku has made it clear whatever made him want to leave has been taken care of.