The Browns have released David Njoku, a not unexpected move. They've got a standout second-year option in Harold Fannin, while Njoku turns 30 this summer. But he'll have a market.
Njoku has missed 5-plus games to injury two years in a row, so it's possible his body is breaking down. It's a position that takes a lot of punishment. But it's also one where there have been plenty of success stories into their 30s, and someone will take a chance on Njoku being the next such player.
Just in the last 10 years, I see 14 different tight ends aged 30 or older who had at least one top 12 season. Twelve others with at least a top-25 campaign. Lots of those guys did it multiple times, and Njoku (who caught 81 passes in 2023) can certainly be one of them.
Table shows the best seasons (PPR) from those 30-year-old tight ends in the last decade.
| OLDER TES, BEST SEASONS, 2016-2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Age | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 2022 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 33 | 152 | 110 | 1338 | 12 | 1 |
| 2024 | George Kittle, S.F. | 31 | 94 | 78 | 1106 | 8 | 3 |
| 2016 | Greg Olsen, Car. | 31 | 129 | 80 | 1073 | 3 | 3 |
| 2017 | Delanie Walker, Ten. | 33 | 111 | 74 | 807 | 4 | 4 |
| 2016 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 30 | 95 | 65 | 923 | 6 | 4 |
| 2018 | Jared Cook, Oak. | 31 | 101 | 68 | 896 | 6 | 5 |
| 2021 | Zach Ertz, 2TM | 31 | 112 | 74 | 763 | 5 | 5 |
| 2025 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 30 | 82 | 60 | 591 | 11 | 7 |
| 2021 | Rob Gronkowski, T.B. | 32 | 89 | 55 | 802 | 6 | 7 |
| 2016 | Dennis Pitta, Balt. | 31 | 121 | 86 | 729 | 2 | 8 |
| 2025 | Hunter Henry, N.E. | 31 | 87 | 60 | 768 | 7 | 9 |
| 2017 | Jason Witten, Dall. | 35 | 87 | 63 | 560 | 5 | 9 |
| 2017 | Benjamin Watson, Balt. | 37 | 79 | 61 | 522 | 4 | 11 |
| 2016 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 36 | 93 | 53 | 548 | 7 | 12 |
| 2019 | Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 30 | 48 | 39 | 367 | 6 | 14 |
| 2017 | Vernon Davis, Was. | 33 | 69 | 43 | 648 | 3 | 15 |
| 2023 | Logan Thomas, Was. | 32 | 78 | 55 | 496 | 4 | 16 |
| 2019 | Darren Fells, Hou. | 33 | 48 | 34 | 341 | 7 | 17 |
| 2025 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 30 | 70 | 48 | 422 | 6 | 17 |
| 2022 | Jordan Akins, Hou. | 30 | 54 | 37 | 495 | 5 | 18 |
| 2016 | Gary Barnidge, Cle. | 31 | 82 | 55 | 612 | 2 | 19 |
| 2016 | Zach Miller, Chi. | 32 | 64 | 47 | 486 | 4 | 20 |
| 2023 | Darren Waller, NYG | 31 | 74 | 52 | 552 | 1 | 22 |
| 2024 | Austin Hooper, N.E. | 30 | 59 | 45 | 476 | 3 | 23 |
| 2023 | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 30 | 70 | 47 | 495 | 2 | 24 |
| 2017 | Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 33 | 48 | 24 | 318 | 5 | 25 |
The Broncos didn't get much out of Evan Engram last year; maybe they'll be interested. The Dolphins could use somebody (Njoku played his college ball in Miami), although he might prefer going to a contender. Anyway, he'll have a job.
--Andy Richardson

