Cleveland Browns to sign Austin Hooper: Grade, reaction and more
By John Buhler
Former Atlanta Falcons tight end Austin Hooper has agreed in principle to join the Cleveland Browns to become the highest paid tight end in all of football.
The Atlanta Falcons entered 2020 in salary cap hell and were in no way, shape or form going to be able to re-sign their two-time Pro Bowl tight end Austin Hooper. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, as well as Mike Silver, Hooper is expected to join the Cleveland Browns and become the highest paid tight end in football in the process.
Hooper was a third-round draft pick by the Falcons in 2016. He was part of the team that blew a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl 51 as a rookie. Hooper quickly developed a rapport with his former quarterback Matt Ryan beginning in 2017. He thrived in Steve Sarkisian’s offense and later in his one year in Dirk Koetter’s system. Hooper emerged as a top-10 tight end in football in Atlanta.
The idea by landing Hooper is he’ll bring along Baker Mayfield in Cleveland, as well as accentuate what is already a deep offensive arsenal. The Browns have already have wide receivers Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr., tight end David Njoku and running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. The Dawg Pound is about to eat big on offense under new head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Here are the contract details, the national reaction and the grade in Hooper going to the Browns.
Contract Details
ESPN’s Atlanta Falcons beat reporter Vaughn McClure reports it is a four-year, $44 million deal for Hooper to go to the Browns, with $23 million of that being guaranteed money. Of course, this deal can only be agreed in principle because Hooper does not officially become a restricted free agent until the new league year starts on Wednesday afternoon.
National Reaction
#Falcons free agent TE Austin Hooper, the top player at his position, is headed to the #Browns, per @TomPelissero, @MikeSilver and me. They’ve agreed to terms, he’s the new highest-paid TE.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2020
Skill players for new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski to work with:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 16, 2020
* QB: Baker Mayfield
* RB: Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt
* WR: Odell Beckham, Jr., Jarvis Landry
* TE: Austin Hooper, David Njoku
OL is a major question mark, but that's the starting point on O.
I would not want to be the team that makes Austin Hooper the highest-paid tight end in football.
— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) March 16, 2020
Of all the Packers news today, the absolute best news is that they didn’t give highest paid TE in football money to Austin Hooper.
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) March 16, 2020
From a Cleveland standpoint, the Browns have one of the best offensive arsenals in all of football. Of course, the offensive line problems are still massive, but maybe those can be addressed in the upcoming draft. The Browns have the No. 10 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to go get an offensive tackle. Mayfield has too many weapons to not throw for 4,000 yards this season.
However, Hooper will be overpaid for his position. We knew he was going to. At best, he’s the sixth-best tight end in football. He will be paid higher than Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Zach Ertz, all of whom are better than him. If Hooper proves to be a product of Ryan’s brilliance as a passer, this could be a regrettable deal for the Browns. There are a lot of questions marks here.