Earlier this offseason the Cleveland Browns made Austin Hooper the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. Hooper signed a four-year, $42 million contract to leave the Atlanta Falcons and join the Browns.
The $10.5 million per year represented the highest annual salary on a multi-year contract ever paid to a tight end. The tense there changed from present to past, thanks to two fresh new contracts to All-Pros this week.
The new title-holder is George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers. Kittle signed a five-year, $75 million deal that pays him an average of $15 million per season. His contract dwarfs Hooper’s former record-setting deal.
So does the new contract for Chiefs star Travis Kelce. The Cleveland Heights native will stay in Kansas City for four more years for a total of $57.25 million, or $14.31 million per season.
Hooper went from first to third in the matter of a few hours this week. If Hunter Henry of the Chargers agrees to a long-term deal that tops his current $10.6 million franchise tag guarantee, Hooper will drop to fourth.
It helps put some context in the Hooper deal for Cleveland and why the team was willing to shell out what seemed like crazy money at the time for the Pro Bowler.
