The Los Angeles Chargers signed David Njoku to help bolster their TE room this offseason. In terms of depth on the roster, the Chargers were short on playable tight ends after Oronde Gadsden II and Charlie Kolar. Now, LA has a fairly deep room following Njoku's signing.
It was reported at the time that Njoku signed a one year deal worth "up to" $8 million. As with last year's Keenan Allen contract, a figure along those lines usually means the cap hit is less than the number being reported. Now, final contract numbers for Njoku have been released.
Chargers' front office gets a steal with TE David Njoku's new contract
Per OverTheCap, Njoku's cap hit will be just $2.95 million for the 2026 season. The former Browns TE got $850k guaranteed per the terms of this new deal. The "up to" $8 million portion of Njoku's contract comes via $5 million in available incentives.
Tyler Schoon of the Guilty as Charged Podcast was first to report the relatively low Njoku cap hit two weeks ago.
Even with Njoku's injuries over the past two seasons, the contract is very low risk, high reward for the Chargers. From Njoku's standpoint, he gets to play in Mike McDaniel's offense for a year with Justin Herbert. There's a chance he can put himself back in the free agency pool next year in a very favorable position.
The contract structure for Njoku is actually very similar to the aforementioned 2025 Allen contract. Allen signed a one year, $3 million deal with a reported up to $8.5 million incentives. After incentives, the vet wide receiver earned $6.27M for the 2025 season per OverTheCap. Assuming Njoku stays healthy this season, there's likely similar potential for him to hit his incentive marks.
Most of Njoku's contract being incentives should also probably color the way the tight end room is discussed. Some fans saw the original reported contract figure and assumed it meant the veteran tight end would be TE1 by usage. While that could end up happening, the way the Chargers valued Njoku on this deal clearly means Gadsden and Kolar will still have sizeable roles in the offense.
Ultimately, Njoku's contract is savvy business by Hortiz and the front office. There's huge potential for the Chargers to extract great value on the deal this season. And there's potential for Njoku to cash in via free agency next season if he puts up good numbers in a McDaniel scheme. For now, everyone won with this deal.
Add us as a preferred source on Google