5 Best Cleveland Browns offseason moves
By Randy Gurzi
2. Landing Austin Hooper
With David Njoku already on the roster, it seemed less than likely that the Browns were going to be going all-in on a tight end in free agency. There was truth to the fact that Njoku hadn’t yet met his potential and his lack of involvement in the offense did indicate that they could look for competition, but going for the biggest fish in the pond seemed to be a bit too much to ask for.
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Well, that wasn’t the case with Andrew Berry. While he did end up exercising the fifth-year option for Njoku — which proves he does like the former first-round pick — he also went after the biggest free agent at the position, and he landed him.
Cleveland ended up signing Austin Hooper to the richest tight end contract in NFL history and while some claim it was too much to pay for Hooper, it really wasn’t. Hooper was an under-utilized weapon in the Atlanta Falcons offense as they had Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, and Calvin Ridley on the same field.
Even with those weapons around him, Hooper proved to be a solid receiving option for the Falcons and is coming off his best season as a pro, recording 787 yards and six touchdowns on 75 receptions.
His smooth route-running and reliable hands will give Baker Mayfield a great option in the passing game and considering their inability to get anyone outside of Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry going consistently as receivers, Hooper fills a major need for this team.