David Njoku’s New Deal Could Mean Megabucks for Vikings TE
Since the start of 2019, Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku has started 34.6% of all football games for the team, and now he’s compensated as the fourth-highest paid tight end in the world.
Njoku signed a four-year, $56.7 million deal last week, pairing the 25-year-old with new quarterback Deshaun Watson for a new era in Cleveland. And his contract ensures other unproven TEs get a crack at affluence, including the Vikings version, Irv Smith Jr., who could earn megabucks as a result of this deal.
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A five-year veteran, Njoku has tallied over 500 receiving yards in a season once, 2018. He’s oft-beset by injury and a sometimes crowded house at TE in Cleveland. Fantasy football gurus can tell you all about it.
Now, though, the Browns front office have rewarded Njoku based on upside and youth, two characteristics unabashedly possessed by Smith Jr. in Minnesota.
The Vikings drafted Smith Jr. in Round 2 of the 2019 NFL Draft, virtually guaranteeing a prominent presence in Minnesota’s offense — at some point. Still, Minnesota employed Kyle Rudolph as tight during Smith Jr.’s first two campaigns, reducing the Alabama alumnus’ workload as Rudolph was incredibly sure-handed and a redzone threat.
But last offseason, Rudolph trekked to the New York Giants for a one-year trial in The Big Apple. He didn’t receive much attention in the Daniel Jones-led offense and won’t be back in 2022. Rudolph is a free agent.
When Rudolph left the Vikings, Smith Jr. saw a glaring greenlight to take over the TE room. But he tore his meniscus in the preseason last summer, canceling all plans for a Smith Jr. “breakout season,” a theory widespread every offseason since 2019.
Unsurprisingly, Smith Jr. again has a breakout-season prognosis because the Vikings have next to nothing at TE2. If he isn’t injured again, Smith Jr. will command a tremendous amount of targets in Kevin O’Connell’s new purple offense.
This is where the Njokus precedent arises.
The 2022 season is Smith Jr.’s final year under contract. All he’ll need is one stellar season to force general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s hand next March in free agency. If he pops for 1,000 yards and 8+ touchdowns — boom — “Njoku money” is on the way. Should he encounter injury or simply not perform well, Smith Jr. will hit free agency seeking reclamation with another NFL team.
Njoku, through five seasons, has not been a dynamic weapon. Like Smith Jr., he’s teased flashes of brilliance. Njoku’s deal lowered the bar for athletic tight ends with high upside.
The Vikings have one of those, and his contract just so happens to be up in nine months.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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