Browns Insider Shoots Down Trade Rumors on $54.75M Star Offensive Weapon
Posted October 13, 2025
The Cleveland Browns have been active in the trade market, but it appears they won’t be trading one impact offensive weapon.
Cleveland has already dealt Joe Flacco and Greg Newsome II and could look to trade off more pieces before the trade deadline. However, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot reported on X that Cleveland is unlikely to trade star tight end David Njoku.
“The #Browns will likely make more trades, but are not looking to sell off key players such as TE David Njoku. (But they also didn’t plan to trade Joe Flacco or Greg Newsome II),” Cabot wrote.
Njoku is in the final year of his four-year, $54.75 million deal with the Browns. With him being a pending free agent, many thought his name could come up in trade talks. Especially with rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. in line to get more snaps.
But, according to Cabot, Cleveland doesn’t want to trade Njoku, and the tight end should finish off the year with the Browns.
Njoku has recorded 23 receptions for 223 yards and 1 touchdown this season.
Njoku Suffers Injury in Week 6
Cleveland did get some bad news about Njoku on Sunday as the star tight end suffered an injury.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski revealed postgame on Sunday that Njoku suffered an injury to his knee, and not his thigh as initially reported. It’s unclear the severity of the injury.
Before exiting the game with an injury, Njoku finished the game with three catches for 28 yards on six targets. The star tight end has been a safety blanket for rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, but if Njoku does miss some time, Fannin Jr. will have to step up.
Fannin Jr. was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by Cleveland. He’s recorded 28 receptions for 254 yards and a touchdown this season.
Browns Offense Needs to be Better
Cleveland suffered a 23-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in a game the Browns failed to score a touchdown. It was a disappointing result for the offense.
Following the game, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski made it clear the offense has to get better and find ways to get into the end zone.
“We’ve got to find a way to score points. We’ve got to run the ball efficiently,” Stefanski said. “Got to find a way to be better in the pass game. All of the above.. We’re doing some things right now that are preventing us from winning. We’ll get it fixed.”
Cleveland will host the Miami Dolphins in Week 7.
Stefanski Could Give Up Play-Calling
Following Cleveland’s failure to find the endzone, the Browns could make a major change on offense.
Stefanski revealed he’s considering giving up the offensive play-calling in hopes it sparks the offense.
“Stefanski said ‘there’s a long list of things we gotta do better’ in an answer that included potentially changing play-callers,” Zac Jackson of The Athletic reported via X.
If Stefanski does give up play-calling, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees would likely call the offensive plays. Rees spent last season as Cleveland’s Pass game specialist and tight ends coach after he was the Alabama Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator in 2023.
Steelers’ Special Teams Ace Miles Killebrew Facing Lengthy Absence After Knee Injury
The Pittsburgh Steelers have improved over the past couple weeks in part because of better health. But the Steelers could be without safety Miles Killebrew for a while.
Head coach Mike Tomlin called Killebrew’s injury “significant” while going through the team’s ailments Monday. The head coach also referred to the safety’s injury as “significant” immediately after Sunday’s matchup with the Cleveland Browns.
As a result, Tomlin already ruled out the safety for the team’s Week 7 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday.
Killebrew didn’t play a snap on defense in the first five games for the Steelers this season. But Killebrew is one of the best special teams players in the league.
In 2023, Killebrew made first-team All-Pro as a special teams ace. He also made the Pro Bowl for that role in 2023 and 2024.
Steelers’ Miles Killebrew Suffers ‘Significant’ Knee Injury
Killebrew sustained his knee injury in the second half against the Browns on Sunday. The ailment occurred while Killebrew was covering a punt.
If placed on injured reserve, the safety will miss at least four games. It sounds like that’s the minimal amount of time Killebrew might be out.
Tomlin has yet to offer further details on the seriousness of the safety’s injury. But based on the replay of the injury and Tomlin calling the ailment “significant,” it wouldn’t be surprising if Killebrew misses the rest of the season.
In five games this season, Killebrew has posted five combined tackles. He lined up for 64% of the team’s snaps on special teams.
Tomlin implied it will be difficult for the team to replace Killebrew, but the head coach also suggested they must have the “next man up” mentality.
“He’s our captain. But you guys know the moto that we live by. We can certainly hurt for him as a man and as a teammate and a brother and an individual,” Tomlin told reporters Monday. “But from a football perspective, another man’s fortunate is another man’s opportunity.
“We certainly have some capable people. There’s an expectation that others step up and fill in the gaps.”
Tomlin didn’t rule out multiple players needing to step up in different roles to replace Killebrew.
“We’re going to divide the labor up based on the skillset in a certain space,” Tomlin added. “One guy might be similar to him in punt team. Another guy might be similar to him in terms of what he does on the kickoff team. We’ll deal with those individually, per space.”
Killebrew Suffered Injury on ‘Poor’ Field at Acrisure Stadium
The field conditions at Acrisure Stadium in Week 6 were less than ideal. The middle of the field was particularly chewed up, especially by the end of the game.
It’s possible the field contributed to Killebrew’s injury.
Tomlin declined to go that far, telling reporters Monday he had “no idea” if the field played a role in the safety’s injury. But Tomlin called the field conditions “poor.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers referred to the field as “borderline unplayable.”
The field at Acrisure Stadium has been a topic of discussion for quite some time, especially locally in Pittsburgh. The Steelers played a famous mud game on Monday Night Football in 2007 against the Detroit Lions.
The field conditions were so bad in that contest, the two teams played the NFL’s first 3-0 affair in 14 years.
But the conditions at Acrisure Stadium have improved in more recent years. It should be better in the team’s next game as well.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor reported Sunday evening the stadium was re-sodding the field after Week 6.
The Steelers have only played two games at Acrisure Stadium this season. But they had a home preseason contest in August, and the Pitt Panthers have already played four games at Acrisure this season.
Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders reported Monday that seven games is about the length of time a field with the type of grass Acrisure Stadium has will last.
