In an expected development, the Cleveland Browns are set to release tight end Austin Hooper after two seasons. Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Browns will dedicate the move as a post-June 1st designation.
Hooper is two years into a four-year, $42 million contract that has not worked out well for either party. In 29 games for the Browns, Hooper has caught 84 passes for 780 yards and seven TDs while being an adequate blocker at best. Cleveland recently used the franchise tag on TE David Njoku and also has promising young Harrison Bryant at the position.
The post-June 1st designation is important. It means the Browns cannot use any of the salary cap room created by releasing Hooper until that point. But it costs the Browns considerably less dead cap room for 2022. Using the post-June 1st designation creates $9.5 million in extra cap room for Cleveland, with a dead cap hit of $3.75 million in 2022 and another $7.5 million in 2023. All of that dead cap would hit the books in 2022 without the designation.
The release also means that the Browns will not receive any credit in the compensatory draft pick formula when another team signs Hooper.