Hooper active

Browns TE Austin Hooper (neck) is active for tonight's game vs. the Giants. He practiced all week, including a full workout of Friday, so the neck shouldn’t be much of an issue. Hooper has totaled just 8 catches on 11 targets over his last 4 games, though, and is just a TE2.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes Titans TE Austin Hooper “should see a healthy red-zone [target] share.” Hooper’s never topped 6 TDs in a season. But he joined a Titans squad this summer that lost ~45 red zone targets to trade (A.J. Brown) and free agency. QB Ryan Tannehill has also posted a top-3 TD rate in 2 of the past 3 seasons (2019 and 2020). Ultimately, Hooper enters the year as a TE2.

New Titans TE Austin Hooper has been getting extra reps with QB Ryan Tannehill after practice. "Chemistry is just repetitions over time," he told reporters afterward. Titans TEs have disappointed with their target shares over the past couple of years, and Hooper might face a challenge from buzzy rookie TE Chig Okonkwo. But he also faces nice opportunity in a Tennessee offense that traded away WR A.J. Brown and released WR Julio Jones since last season. Hooper has consistently gone in TE3 range of drafts.

The Titans are signing former Browns TE Austin Hooper to a 1-year, $6 million deal. It's a nice landing spot for Hooper on a roster who's top remaining TE had been Geoff Swaim. We'll see whether Tennessee adds anyone else significant and what they do at WR, but Hooper's a solid option late in current best-ball fantasy football drafting.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the Browns are releasing TE Austin Hooper (with a post-June 1 designation). That will send Hooper to a free-agent market that has seen little TE movement in the early days. His departure leaves room for David Njoku to take over the lead TE spot, with 3rd-year TE Harrison Bryant behind him. Njoku has remained a solid value in best-ball drafting since re-signing with Cleveland. We'll see how much his ADP climbs with the Hooper news. Fowler says the Browns planned to keep Hooper but that acquiring WR Amari Cooper and pursuing QB Deshaun Watson changed the cap situation.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the Browns plan to keep TE Austin Hooper around, despite using the franchise tag to keep TE David Njoku of the free-agent market. Hooper has 1 year left on his contract at a $13.25 million cap hit, according to Spotrac. Even cutting him, though, would mean $7.5 million in dead cap space. Having Hooper, Njoku and Harrison Bryant all on the roster once again would make it tough for any to provide consistent fantasy production. Don't overrate any of them in early fantasy football drafts.