“lol they aint offer me:” Austin Hooper hints Falcons departure on Instagram
The reality became more inevitable by the day.
The absorbing the $2 million option of Matt Schaub, letting Vic Beasley walk, even having plans surface of allowing three key players test free agency – the Atlanta simply do not have enough money to resign pro bowl tight end Austin Hooper.
Hooper confirmed all speculation with a cryptic post of him walking off the field in a Falcons jersey with no caption.
Falcon fans pleaded the tight end to stay in Atlanta in the comment section.
“lol they ain’t offer me,” Hooper replied to one fan.
The reign was on.
“There’s still a chance they can offer you a contract or did they tell you something different?” @fady_falcon asked in another comment.
“not up to me to spill the beans,” Hooper replied.
Another fan commented his theory on the situation.
“A well run business would have traded their top talent player if the season was lost and they had no intention of resigning or tagging them,” @oliverb09 commented. “TD needed some wins end of season to keep his job though.”
For clearer context, the Falcons’ front office understood the position it was going to be this offseason for a while. All postseason hopes were all but gone once the team started 1-7. The team traded one its top receiving options, Mohamed Sanu, Sr., to the New England Patriots while publicly shopping other players like Beasley before the trade deadline. Atlanta ultimately ended up keeping Hooper in the midst of his career year and finished the season 6-2.
Hooper replied to the fans’ theory comment with the eyes emoji.
Another fan left a simple comment.
“Please resign,” @zachmeyers22 wrote.
“told me to hit the road lol not up to me,” Hooper replied.
Hooper was named to his first two pro bowls in each of the last two seasons. Despite playing in the fewest games of his career in 2019, Hooper enjoyed a career-high of 787 receiving yards, 97 receptions and six touchdowns.
