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Browns sign TE Austin Hooper


RaidersAreOne

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1 hour ago, BleedTheClock said:

Bizarre signing. He's a stud, but I just find that to be a weird priority.

Marrying the Run and the Pass; making run plays present and look like pass plays and pass plays present and look like run plays has everything to do with the Tight End as defenses can't assume formation tendencies based on Tight End Alignment or being on the field.

It also unlocks the Tight End as often the most explosive and match-up nightmare chess piece for the offense especially when a team can get ahead of the yardage game and can create 2nd and 6 or less.

Hooper is likely to pull some defensive gravity away from OBJ. Jarvis due to his speed deficiencies didn't do that and if Jarvis is going to be on the field most of the time as our WR2 with OBJ WR1 we had to turn to the Tight End position to help create space and pull defensive gravity and/or take advantage of mismatches.

Hopefully, they keep David Njoku. If they do, the two Tight End sets could get very interesting in terms of the phantom looks and explosive plays Stefanski can scheme up.

13 minutes ago, Mind Character said:

Only problem is man oh man is are roster top heavy with major expenditures at WR, WR, and TE.

That's the type of stuff you do when you're in striking distance of the Super Bowl or late round playoff contention. When you're building out high investment on the DE, DT, and OL positions are what make the most longterm sustainable sense.

 

Edited by Mind Character
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5 minutes ago, buno67 said:

Vikings didn’t have a guy like that. Stef offense rarely used more than 2 WRs and used 2 TEs the most. 

Right, but was that a product of them not having that or Stefanski not wanting it? Depending on that situation we could use a guy that can make plays downfield and let Baker take the shots he likes to take. The Vikings had 3 WRs on the field about 20% of the time so it's not like it never happens.

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9 minutes ago, BiscuitBrown said:

With inflation that’s not a bad contract for a top 5 TE

I'd say he's more top-10 than top-5, but he's young and complements what we are aiming to do on offense. Bradley Roby just got 3/$36 mil, so Hooper's contract really is pretty mellow.

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2 minutes ago, candyman93 said:

I like it, but still kinda surprised

This is exactly where I am at.

And now, looking at this through the eyes of analytics, this signing makes perfect sense. The safety market got reset and now isn't much of a bargain. The tight end market will truly reset once it's time to pay the next superstar contract (Kittle). We might as well get the last reasonable high quality free agent TE contract in before the lock (next year?).

As others have noted, our offense is designed to run best with two tight ends, especially if they can stretch the field to take attention away from our receivers. We got the #1 guy available in free agency to do this, and he is about to hit his prime.

It also hedges against Njoku not being the guy without diminishing his trade value were we to move on. 

It's a brilliant move: 4/$44mil. I'll take it.

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7 minutes ago, candyman93 said:

I will keep hammering on this belief: We want to be a offense dominant team.

For our collective sanity, let's just look at the move in an isolated sense, unrelated to any other potential signings:

(1) We're about to be rid of Hubbard so this pretty much is a contract wash.

(2) We have a ton of cap room and the contract will not be prohibitive two years from now.

(3) We truly did need another TE.

(4) Hooper is in his prime and could do big things here.

(5) Great TE name.

(6) We're about to be rid of Chris Hubbard.

Edited by NudeTayne
Compliment sandwich
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