The Cleveland Browns are reportedly ‘very close’ to bringing back one of their key players in the form of David Njoku.

It’s fair to say that the 2021 season was one of severe disappointment for the Cleveland Browns as a team, and that took its toll on David Njoku as well. 

Having ended 2020 on something of a high, winning their first playoff game since 1994 and taking the Kansas City Chiefs all the way in the divisional round of the playoffs the week after, expectations for them in 2021, with some even putting them as Super Bowl contenders. 

However, an 8-9 record saw them finish 3rd in the division and outside of the playoffs, but Njoku was one of their few positive lights as he ranked 3rd in terms of receiving yards with 475 receiving yards and led the team in receiving touchdowns with 4. 

Plenty of faith from the Browns

The Browns though clearly think that he can be an integral part of what the team wants to do for them in the future, whether that be with newly acquired QB Deshaun Watson or not given his off-field issues, as they placed the franchise tag on him this offseason.

The franchise tag means that a player is given a one-year contract that averages out the pay of the top 5 players at their respective position, and can only be given out to one player on a team per season.

However, both sides have also been working on a longer-term deal at the same time.

Into the final stages

And it looks as if both sides are coming close to getting something sorted out, as a report from Mary Kay Cabot at Cleveland.com has claimed that the two sides “are very close on all but the guarantees”, with Njoku set to skip OTAs until a new deal can be confirmed.

This will be the second bit of big business that the Browns will have completed this week, as they also announced that defensive end Jadeveon Clowney will also be coming back to the team this season.

It looks like the Browns are really stocking up with weapons on both sides of the ball once again, but whether or not it will turn into anything successful, we’ll just have to wait and see.