Austin Hooper

The Raiders signed Howard to a 1-year, veteran minimum contract with $350k guaranteed. Howard spent the first five years how his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being selected 19th overall in the 2017 draft. The former Alabama TE caught 119 balls for 1,737 yards and 15 TDs in his five years with the Bucs before. Howard had a cup of coffee with the Buffalo Bills last offseason before latching on with the Houston Texans, where he caught 10 passes for 145 yards and 2 TDs across 13 games.

The departure of Howard makes it a two-man competition at tight end, with Austin Hooper having the edge of veteran deference over rookie 2nd-Rounder Michael Mayer. While Hooper may be the starter when the Raiders line up Week 1, he is the definition of a cardboard cutout starter. It won’t be a month before the Notre Dame product takes over as TE1 in Las Vegas.