Former Pro Bowl TE David Njoku signing with Chargers after 9 years with Browns

"Chief" will soon be seeing more of the Chiefs.

Former Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku, who'd spent his entire nine-season NFL career with the Cleveland Browns, has agreed to a contract with the AFC West's Los Angeles Chargers, NFL Network reported May 11 − the one-year deal apparently worth up to $8 million.

Njoku joins a room that includes youngster Oronde Gadsen II, who caught 49 passes as a rookie in 2025, and Charlie Kolar, one of the league's premier blocking tight ends. Kolar signed a three-year, $24.3 million contract in March. While that might seem like a crowded group, having multiple tight ends on the field for various offensive packages is a growing trend in the NFL.

Njoku, who will be 30 in July, was a first-round pick of the Browns in 2017. Statistically, his best season occurred in 2023, when he caught 81 passes for 882 yards and six touchdowns − all career highs − and earned his only Pro Bowl nod. Over the course of his career, he has 384 receptions for 4,062 yards and 34 TDs.

Yet it should be noted that Njoku's somewhat erratic year-over-year numbers were at least partially skewed by the Browns' ever-changing offense and instability at quarterback. The emergence of rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland's leading receiver in 2025, made Njoku expendable.

Always a quality blocker, the muscular Njoku is likely to find himself on the field frequently for the Bolts, projecting as their best hybrid tight end. By waiting to sign him now, the Chargers continued their offseason strategy of setting themselves up to receive compensatory picks in 2027 as Njoku's May arrival won't count against their formula.

Njoku's nickname, "Chief," is a long-held one but also became more recently formalized when the title was conferred on him by his family's Nigerian village in 2022.

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