Eagles News
The Philadelphia Eagles are expressing interest in Cleveland Browns free-agent tight end David Njoku, according to league sources who spoke with Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com, and the timing could not be more significant.
With longtime Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert widely expected to depart Philadelphia this offseason after eight seasons, the team faces a glaring void at one of the most important positions in their offense. NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry reported this week that Goedert will “definitely be moving on” from the Eagles, putting tight end near the top of Philadelphia’s free-agency priority list. Goedert, now 31, played the 2025 season on a restructured one-year, $10 million deal and delivered a career-high 11 touchdown catches to go along with 60 receptions for 591 yards, but it appears his time in Philadelphia has run its course.
Enter David Njoku.
The 29-year-old enters free agency after a quietly difficult 2025 season in Cleveland, finishing with just 33 catches for 293 yards and four touchdowns on 48 targets across 12 games. Those numbers represent a significant step back for a player who had blossomed into one of the more dangerous receiving threats at the position just a season prior. The primary culprit behind the regression was no mystery: the emergence of rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland’s third-round pick out of Bowling Green in the 2025 NFL Draft, who quickly established himself as the Browns’ top pass-catching option and pushed Njoku firmly into a secondary role.
A knee injury that cost Njoku time mid-season only complicated matters further.
Despite the down year, the Eagles’ interest makes considerable sense on paper. Njoku remains one of the more physically gifted tight ends in the NFL, an elite athlete with size, speed, and the kind of receiving ability that can stress defenses in multiple ways. What he has lacked throughout his career, which began when Cleveland selected him 29th overall out of the University of Miami in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, is consistency at the quarterback position. The Browns’ revolving door under center has long been one of the more unfortunate storylines in professional football, and it’s fair to wonder how differently Njoku’s career might have unfolded with a stable, high-level passer throwing him the ball.
That is precisely what Philadelphia would offer.
Jalen Hurts has developed into one of the NFL’s elite dual-threat quarterbacks, and the Eagles’ offensive system under their current staff has consistently created opportunities for talented tight ends. Goedert himself thrived in that environment, and Njoku, motivated, healthy, and playing for a new contract, could be a logical candidate to fill that role if the two sides can reach an agreement.
Njoku posted a farewell to Cleveland on Instagram earlier this month, closing the door on a chapter that began nearly a decade ago and produced some memorable moments despite never quite reaching the heights many expected when he was a highly touted first-round prospect. At 29, he still has prime years remaining, and a change of scenery alongside a legitimate quarterback could be exactly what reignites his career.
For the Eagles, it is a calculated opportunity. Adding Njoku would give Philadelphia one of the more athletic tight ends on the free-agent market and provide Jalen Hurts with a legitimate receiving weapon at the position while the organization determines its longer-term plans. It is exactly the kind of high-upside, prove-it situation that can benefit both the player and the team.
Free agency opens later this month. This one will be worth monitoring closely.