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Austin Hooper had other suitors this offseason, but the top free agent tight end on the market chose the Cleveland Browns. Hooper stopped by the “Jim Rome Show” to explain why he chose to sign with the Browns instead of the other teams offering him lucrative contracts.
Rome asked Hooper why he is now in Cleveland.
” I really like Andrew Berry, his approach, his vision, his style,” Hooper said. “I think I could really benefit (from) being under his leadership.”
Hooper also noted coach Kevin Stefanski and “the energy he brings,” as well as his familiarity with “the outside zone play-action scheme” that Stefanski will implement in Cleveland. Hooper played in the same system as a rookie in Atlanta under then-coach Kyle Shanahan.
He bottom-lined it like this:
“Between the system, the coach, the GM, and to be real the offer, all four of those things were lined up.”
The offer was a huge one. The Browns signed Hooper for $44 million over four years, with $23 million fully guaranteed. It’s the largest contract ever given to a free-agent tight end.
One interesting tidbit Hooper offered: He revealed that he, like all free agents this offseason, had to sign a COVID-19 addendum to his contract that will make him pay back his signing bonus if there is no season.
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Thanks to Chad at the Jim Rome Show for the clip!