Browns trade Raiders for familiar face to replace injured David Njoku

The Cleveland Browns need to surround their quarterback, Deshaun Watson, with as many weapons as possible. Cleveland is already playing without its star running back, Nick Chubb, who continues to recover from a knee injury last season.

Now, due to a high ankle sprain, the Browns are without tight end David Njoku. Njoku is on the weekly roster at this point, but the bigger problem is the Browns’ complete lack of depth in the tight end room. After Njoku, they have veteran tight end Jordan Akins, who has never been able to handle the idea of ​​being the best tight end in any situation.

Cleveland needs to make a move to help their team now and when Njoku returns. They could look to the Las Vegas Raiders to reunite with their old friend, Harrison Bryant.

Bryant spent four seasons with the Browns before joining Las Vegas this year. He knows the Browns and their system well, as well as the personnel and the city. While he’s not a full-fledged superstar, he’s a solid option in the red zone and would be a slight upgrade over Akins. Regardless, Cleveland should field three tight ends, as most teams in the league do, instead of the two tight ends they’ve fielded so far.

Additionally, the Raiders currently have Bryant listed as their TE3 behind Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, meaning they could be moving on from him to gain some draft capital. Vegas could either roll two tight ends or pick another guy for their third tight end. Right now, Bryant doesn’t provide them with anything but depth.

A trade to acquire Bryant would be pretty simple. The Browns have a ton of 2025 6th-round picks and the Raiders would accept a straight-up trade like that in a heartbeat.

Cleveland walks away from the deal with an upgrade to their tight end cap, making Watson’s job a little easier on him. Las Vegas walks away from the deal with a depth player traded for a 6th round pick. The Raiders aren’t going to win the Super Bowl with their current QB situation, so any player who isn’t part of their future is completely expendable. Moving Bryant makes sense for them.

It’s unclear at this point if there have been any official discussions about this, but it’s safe to assume that Cleveland will at least entertain the idea of ​​making a move for its old friend, Harrison Bryant.