Chicago Bears: Why the Bears shouldn’t trade for David Njoku

With tight end David Njoku requesting a trade, why should the Chicago Bears avoid the former first-round pick?

Hypothetically speaking, the Chicago Bears could manage to get creative and figure out a way to land Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku, however doing so wouldn’t be very smart. While Njoku is just 23 years old and a former first-round pick who’s got two years left on his rookie contract, the Bears seem to be set with the tight end position.

In free agency, the Bears also added Jimmy Graham on a two-year deal while spending the 43rd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet? The motive behind both these moves? Graham will end up being a mentor for Kmet, who was a two-sport athlete in college, splitting his time between football and baseball.

There are a few obstacles that exist with adding a guy like Njoku this late in the offseason. First, due to the pandemic, the Bears won’t know how healthy Njoku is. He missed a good chunk of the 2019 season with a wrist injury, that cost him valuable playing time. Since every NFL player has been virtually practicing this offseason, there is no guarantee that Njoku returns to his 2018 form that saw him start 14 games, catch 56 passes, and score four touchdowns.

Second, the compensation that the Browns would want for Njoku seems to be all over the place On one hand, the Browns seem to want a first-round pick for Njoku but on the other hand, some teams believe that he’s worth a day three draft pick, likely being a fourth or fifth-rounder as fair compensation.

Third, while Njoku has two years remaining on his current deal, for any trade to happen, he’ll likely want a contract extension. With Austin Hooper signing a four-year deal with $42 million dollars and San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle ready to sign a contract extension as well, Njoku will likely use the contracts of Hooper and Kittle to be able to set his own price tag, one that could quickly be out of the Bears reach.

Finally, the implications of adding Njoku wouldn’t be good for Kmet, who the Bears view as being the future at the tight end position. Pairing up Njoku with Kmet would allow for head coach Matt Nagy to use more 12 personnel, however, there would only be so many targets to go around, between Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, Tarik Cohen, Kmet, and Njoku.

Overall, the Bears shouldn’t add Njoku due to his injury history, as well as the compensation that would be required to trade for him. While the Bears do have first, second, and third-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, there is no point in trading future draft capital away, especially when the future at tight end is already on the roster.