The Las Vegas Raiders have officially doubled down in their efforts to replace Darren Waller.
According to theScore’s Jordan Schultz, tight end Austin Hooper has signed a one-year deal in Las Vegas. Full terms of the contract have yet to be announced.
Hooper, 28, reportedly had a free-agent visit with the Raiders on Monday. That surfaced only a short time after Vegas added another tight end in OJ Howard.
Last week, the Raiders traded Waller, a 2020 Pro Bowler, to the New York Giants for a third-round pick.
Hooper comes to Las Vegas with a Pro Bowl resume of his own. He earned two nods to the All-Star game in 2018 and 2019 with the Atlanta Falcons, who selected him in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft.
In no surprise, those were the best two years of his career as he surpassed 70 catches in both. In the three seasons since his Pro Bowl years, Hooper’s numbers have dropped and he has maxed out at 46 catches in that time. .
However, the Raiders could be a solution for Hooper.
In 2020, Hooper signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the Cleveland Browns and spent two seasons there. Last year, Hooper was with the Tennessee Titans.
Through that trio of years, Hooper’s highest total of targets (70) came in 2020, when he played the fewest amount of games, just 13.
Enter Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo, who signed a three-year contract with the Raiders, likes his tight ends.
The two healthiest years of Garoppolo’s career with the San Francisco 49ers came in 2019 and 2021. In those, 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle had 107 and 94 targets, respectively.
Garoppolo and Hooper will need to build chemistry, but Hooper could turn out to be a diamond in the rough.
