4 options for the Detroit Lions to replace T.J. Hockenson in 2023

3. Austin Hooper

Hooper is having a poor season with the Tennessee Titans, to put it mildly, with just 10 catches for 116 yards in seven games thus far (three for 56 in Week 7). He has also played less than half of the offensive snaps (48 percent) to this point.

Hooper was a free agency bust for the Cleveland Browns in 2020. So much so, they released him two years into a four-year, $42 million deal. The Titans jumped on a potential bargain, signing him to a one-year, $6 million deal, and he hasn’t delivered. It’s possible the Browns and Titans have just been bad fits for him, but a trend is certainly forming.

With that recent run, it has become easy to forget Hooper had back-to-back 70-plus catch seasons with the Atlanta Falcons in 2018 and 2019. He also earned a Pro Bowl selection in both seasons. It can easily be argued he hasn’t had a quarterback even as good as Matt Ryan was those years since then.

A (theoretically) capable tight end whose value on the open market will probably never be lower than it’ll be next March? Even at 28 years old now, a cheap one or two-year deal for Hooper may be right in the Lions’ wheelhouse come March.