Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Josh Allen

Wednesday, March 13, 12:18 AM

Las Vegas Raiders free-agent tight end Austin Hooper is expected to sign a one-year deal worth up to $4.25 million with the New England Patriots on Wednesday. The veteran tight end will reunite with new Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who was with Hooper with the Cleveland Browns. Hooper made the Pro Bowl two straight years from 2018-19 while with the Atlanta Falcons, but he hasn't been nearly as involved as he was then in the last four seasons with the Browns, Titans and Raiders. In 17 games (nine starts) last year in Vegas, the 29-year-old caught just 25 of 31 targets for 234 yards and no touchdowns. With both Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown now gone, Hooper figures to serve as New England's No. 2 TE behind Hunter Henry in 2024. Unless Henry gets hurt, Hooper is unlikely to have a significant enough role to warrant fantasy consideration in standard-sized leagues.

Monday, March 11, 7:45 PM

The Buffalo Bills restructured the contract of quarterback Josh Allen on Monday, converting much of his 2024 compensation into a signing bonus to create $16.7 million in 2024 salary cap space. Allen's updated 2024 cap charge is now $30.356 million. The Bills are in a slightly better situation salary cap-wise, although they did lose receiver Gabe Davis in free agency to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday. Salary cap issues for the Bills aside, the 27-year-old Allen dealt with a right-shoulder issue midway through the 2023 season but never missed a game and finished as the most valuable fantasy QB with 4,306 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, but what made him elite were his 524 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in 17 regular-season games. He'll be one of the first signal-callers to be selected in the early rounds of fantasy drafts this fall.