Tennessee Titans: Titans Revive Their TE Core By Signing Austin Hooper
The Tennessee Titans added a capable veteran tight end in Austin Hooper on Friday afternoon. Tennessee gave Hooper a one-year, $6 million deal. Tom Pelissero had the news first. Before signing Hooper, the Titans' tight-end corps was all but dead. Outside of some very young and inexperienced players coming off injuries like Tommy Hudson and […]
The Tennessee Titans added a capable veteran tight end in Austin Hooper on Friday afternoon.
Tennessee gave Hooper a one-year, $6 million deal. Tom Pelissero had the news first.
Before signing Hooper, the Titans' tight-end corps was all but dead.
Outside of some very young and inexperienced players coming off injuries like Tommy Hudson and Briley Moore, the only tight end on the Titans roster before they signed Hooper was Geoff Swaim.
Swaim, to whom the Titans gave a somewhat inexplicable $3.5 million one-year contract on Monday, is a reserve-level player who shouldn't be anything more than a No. 3 tight end.
Getting Hooper in the fold serves as a resuscitation for the position group. To say the move was "much-needed" would be an understatement.
Hooper isn't a world-beater. His best season came in 2019 when he nearly eclipsed 800 yards with the Falcons.
The Browns signed him to a pricey free-agent contract the following offseason, and Hooper never lived up to expectations in Cleveland. They released him just two years into the deal.
Still, Hooper is vastly better than Swaim and the other tight ends Tennessee deployed in 2021.
If nothing else, he's steady and reliable. He's a legitimate threat in the passing game.
Those statements couldn't be made about Swaim, Anthony Firkser or MyCole Pruitt.
The Titans certainly still have work to do on offense before the start of the 2022 season. Their current crop of weapons⏤A.J. Brown, Hooper and not much else⏤won't get the job done.
Signing Hooper, though, is a major step in the right direction.
Cover image: Scott Galvin/USA Today
