CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns exercised the fifth-year options on the contracts of Myles Garrett and David Njoku.
The team made the announcement Monday afternoon.
Both players were entering the fourth year of their original rookie deals and the deadline to exercise the options was approaching next month.
Garrett was selected No. 1 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft and Njoku was picked 29th overall following a trade back into the round.
Exercising Garrett’s fifth year was an easy decision and the team plans to try and sign him to a second contract but picking up Njoku’s was far from guaranteed heading into the offseason.
Garrett’s option is worth $15.1 million and Njoku’s $6 million.
Garrett made the Pro Bowl in 2018 and he has 30.5 sacks in just 37 games played over his first three NFL seasons, a franchise record. He had 10.0 sacks in 2019 before being suspended indefinitely for hitting Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with a helmet in the closing seconds of a 21-7 win last November. He was reinstated by commissioner Roger Goodell in February.
Despite signing Austin Hooper to a four-year, $42 million deal in free agency and drafting Harrison Bryant out of FAU in the fourth round, Berry insisted over the weekend Njoku was in the team’s long-term plans.
“We still have a ton of belief in David and he is very talented,” Berry said Saturday after the draft. “Obviously he was not on the field much last year but he is a guy with outstanding physical tools, he has proven NFL production and we still think the future is very bright with him here.
“So David has always been and continues to be in our plans. And we are going to continue to add competition all across the roster.”
Njoku has struggled with catching the ball consistently over his first three seasons but has 93 catches for 1,066 yards and nine touchdowns. Njoku broke his wrist in Week 2 last year causing him to miss 10 games on injured reserve before working his way back to the field. Former head coach Freddie Kitchens made him inactive for two games in December.
