Former Tennessee Football Star Hendon Hooker Signs With New NFL Team

Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker is set to be with a new team this season.

Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker (2) walks off the field after the 26-7 loss in the preseason game at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, August 23, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Former Tennessee Volunteers gunslinger Hendon Hooker is now on his way to another new team after being the backup quarterback for the New York Jets this past season. He was also a member of many teams before that, as he has been with the Detroit Lions, who drafted him, and the Carolina Panthers as the backup to Bryce Young.

Tennessee Titans Sign Hendon Hooker

Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker (2) makes a pass against Houston Texans during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, August 23, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hooker is now set to make his way back to Tennessee, but this time he will be in Nashville, as he is set to be the backup quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. He will be backing up last year's No. 1 pick, Cameron Ward, and will also be battling with Will Levis, a former Kentucky quarterback. It is also worth noting that the Titans signed Mitchell Trubisky earlier in the free agency cycle.

Hooker hasn't had much of a breakthrough in the NFL as a quarterback, as he has only seen playing time as a quarterback with the Lions. In three games of action, the talented player finished with a total of 62 yards in six complete passes. He also only attempted nine passes as a whole. Hooker will likely not see the field in Tennessee, but Tennessee Vols fans will be happy to know that their former star is back within the Volunteer State.

Hooker has all the potential in the world to be good, as he showed this in his time with the Vols. He is the player who has been the closest to winning the Heisman since the year 2,000, although he didn't make it to the event thanks to an unfortunate ACL injury that devastated the rest of the college world. The injury he suffered left the Vols with no choice but to start Joe Milton for the remainder of the two games on the schedule, which went well. The Vols would defeat the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville, but even that wasn't enough for them to go to the playoffs.

This led to them having a New Year's Six game, which resulted in a blowout win for the Vols against a very tough Clemson Tigers team.

In Hooker's career with the Vols, he helped lead Tennessee to many wins, including a win over the Florida Gators, and the biggest win in Tennessee history, against the Alabama Crimson Tide inside Neyland Stadium. He finished his Tennessee career as one of the best Vols QBs in the history of the program.