Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns are at an odd plateau after seven games. Sitting at 2-5-0, are they still in the division title hunt? Working towards a Wild Card seed? Or looking towards next season?
Are they out of it? A one-game win streak does that sometimes – gives hope.
RELATED: TRADE RUMORS WILL BE DECIDED BY WEEK 8
The Browns still have 10 games remaining. No, they are not out of anything. A look at their schedule reveals a lot of mediocre to trash teams they can defeat: New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens (1-5-0? Ouch), Las Vegas Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, and Chicago Bears. They could possibly work out a win against the New England Patriots this weekend, and maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers in their rebound game.
Running the remainder of the schedule is certainly not feasible, but getting 8-9 wins is not that far-fetched. And right now, Cleveland is just two games out of first place in the AFC North Division. Yeah, not a misprint or typing drunk.
Any roster changes the Browns could make along this journey? The NFL trade deadline is fast approaching, set for Tuesday, November 4 at 4:00 pm (Eastern).
Browns GM Andrew Berry has been busy so far with orchestrating roster trades. Before the NFL draft, he worked out a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars to trade the #2 pick for the #5 selection, plus gain a first-round pick in 2026. Berry then brought in OT Cam Robinson from the Houston Texans, followed by sending veteran QB Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. Next, he reached out to the Jaguars again and swapped cornerbacks, sending Greg Newsome in exchange for Tyson Campbell.
So, making diligent trades is already on Berry’s mind. And he has shown he will not hesitate to let go of a veteran or a starting player.
For a month now, several media sources have made some suggestions for Cleveland to tweak their roster. We are going to suggest one: TE David Njoku. Should they trade him? Should they stand pat and keep The Chief?
Currently, Njoku is in the final year of the four-year, $56.75 million contract extension he signed before the 2022 training camp. His cap hit is $11.44 million this year and represents 4.1% of the team’s cap number.
Most likely, any roster moves the Browns are considering will be decided after the Patriots game. A victory might make them buyers, while another loss might be the catalyst for the franchise to begin thinking about getting more draft capital and ditching some high-priced contracts.
Njoku is just 29 years old and still in the prime of his athletic life. He came out of the University of Miami as a receiving tight end who couldn’t block his grandma. When Bill Callahan was with the Browns as the offensive line coach, he taught Njoku how to block. Since then, he has become a very good blocker and has zero issues blocking on running plays or downfield, and will...
