Tight end Austin Hooper has signed a new contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. Hooper spent the 2022 season with the Tennessee Titans.
#Titans FA TE Austin Hooper is expected to visit the #Raiders on Wednesday, source said, as the two-time Pro Bowler could add to a TE room in Las Vegas that now also includes OJ Howard.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 20, 2023
Austin Hooper, Las Vegas Raiders, Agree to Contract
Austin Hooper had a marginally better year in 2022 with the Titans than he did in 2021. He finished with 41 receptions for 444 yards and two touchdowns – 100 yards better than the season before. Given how short-handed the Titans offense was this year, this should’ve been a good opportunity for him to get back to full form, but he ended up slitting time with rookie tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo.
Hooper played college football with Stanford from 2013 to 2015. He made First-Team All-Pac-12 in 2015. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 in the third round. Hooper started third on the depth chart at the start of the season, but by the playoffs he had more of a depth role, and scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl loss that year.
Hooper became the full starter by 2017, and finished the season with 41 receptions for 526 yards and three touchdowns. His numbers only went up the next two seasons, and his best year came in 2019 when he finished with 75 receptions for 787 yards and six touchdowns, which all remain career-highs. He got Pro Bowl nods in both 2018 and 2019.
Hooper signed with the Cleveland Browns in the 2020 offseason, but his contributions where underwhelming in that offense. He finished with only 435 yards in 2020 and four touchdowns. He finished with 780 yards in two seasons with the Browns, which was less (barely) than what he put up in one season in 2019. However, he did play a role in the Browns first playoff win in decades in 2020, catching seven passes for 46 yards and a touchdown. He was released after the 2021 season, and then joined the Titans in 2022.
Thus far in his career, Austin Hooper has a total of 339 receptions for 3,468 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Main Photo: George Walker IV / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK
