The Falcons’ tight ends room might be the busiest place in the NFL on an already wild day. After letting Austin Hooper walk and releasing Luke Stocker, the team is now making a splash trade. The Ravens have shipped tight end Hayden Hurst to Atlanta, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Baltimore is getting back an impressive haul, as they’re receiving second and fifth round picks in the 2020 draft while sending back a fourth-round selection to Atlanta. The Ravens drafted Hurst in the first-round in 2018, but he immediately took a backseat behind Mark Andrews, who Baltimore took in the third round of that same draft. Hurst missed the first handful of weeks of his rookie season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot, and he said the injury nagged him the whole year.
He ended up catching only 13 passes for 163 yards that year. While he took a step forward this past season with 30 receptions for 349 yards and two touchdowns, he was still expendable as Andrews emerged into one of the top tight ends in the league. There was a report a couple of weeks ago that while teams were calling the Ravens weren’t necessarily inclined to trade the South Carolina product, so clearly they were blown away by the offer.
As for the Falcons, they’ve now got their guy to replace Hooper. A second-round pick is a hefty price to give up for a player who hasn’t topped 350 yards in two years, but Hurst has shown plenty of flashes and had the misfortune of getting stuck behind Andrews. Hurst is already 26 though thanks to a couple of years spent playing minor league baseball after high school, and he’s actually more than a year older than Hooper is.
Atlanta will definitely be questioned for the decision to let Hooper walk and then give up this pick for a less-proven and older player, but Hooper landed a massive deal they weren’t willing to match and they had to do something to address the position.
How do the Ravens get the same return for Hayden Hurst that Houston got for Hopkins…..
they didnt, The Texans will trade Hopkins and a fourth-round pick for David Johnson, a 2020 second-rounder and a 2021 fourth-rounder. How is that the same as a 2nd and a 5th for Hayden Hurst?
4th, 5th those are TP. They got a 2nd rounder for a marginal TE. Hopkins is Top-3 WR, good contract, and DJ is a negative value player based on contract and injuries.
David Johnson wasn’t hurt last year though. He just wasn’t getting playing time after they got Drake. If his numbers from the first six games he played held for all 13 games, he’d have looked at something like 600+ yards rushing and 600+ yards receiving behind an OL that ranked 21st in run blocking and 26th in pass blocking.
DJ is going behind a better OL. One that made Carlos Hyde look like a serviceable RB. DJ at least brings a receiving element to the team from that spot. Doesn’t make sense to trade him for Hopkins but I don’t think you can call people negative value players considering how terrible the OL was.
Wow – thanks for your help in breaking down the trade for me. The differences are glaring and I shouldn’t have made my post – I see the error in my ways. The differences between the return of a 2nd and 4th vs a 2nd and 5th are insurmountable and I thank you kind sir or madam for putting me in my place. Before making a comment based on generalities, I will surely make sure every aspect is exactly identical to avoid this embarrassment in the future.
well, you did not and STILL are not even including David Johnson, or the 4th rounder ARZ is getting, so there’s that. Did the Ravens get a player in return? no they didnt, so its NOT the “same return”. not my fault you cant define the word “same”. go back to Mars.
I see that you capitalized the word still – is that to bring it to my attention, or simply an accidental key press of the caps lock?
At risk of drawing this out any further, all I was trying to say is that the 2 deals were very similar for 2 dissimilar players. Yes, AZ is giving up a 2 and 4 + David Johnson and all ATL is giving up is a 2 and a 5. I’m not a journalist, I’m just a dude in front of a computer in the comments section, so let’s not be to literal here. It was simply me making a jab at the shoddy return for an elite receiver vs a backup TE. I hope you and your loved ones stay healthy and I wish you nothing but the best – cheers!
ok, cool. I hope the same for you and yours. i just got bent over your smart aleck reply to my comment.
Actually, getting David Johnson is not a plus. It’s a negative. His cap hit versus his production is horrible. It’s almost like the Cardinals stated ‘we can’t make this deal unless you take this horrible contract off our hands’, and Houston said .. ok.
So please, when referencing this part of the trade, be certain to put the Johnson piece in the correct ‘gain’ column. In other words, Arizona gained by shedding his contract. Houston could have waited for the Cards to cut him and signed him for slightly above league minimum without losing one of the top five WR’s in the league.
Dimitroff just gave up more for Hayden Hurst than he did for Tony-freaking-Gonzalez?…how does that happen?!?!?! lol
Decosta is a bad man!!
A second rounder for Hurst is fantastic. He has promise in the NFL but he’d never have the opportunity being the third TE in Baltimore. Isn’t the complete TE that Andrews is and isn’t the blocker that Boyle is. I’ll be glad to see him get an opportunity and if those numbers hold steady or drop with the higher workload.
Baltimore needs picks. They might not be able to sign anyone if they can’t get Judon re-signed or traded. Guys like Soloman Kindley make sense for them but likely wouldn’t have been available that late in the second. They’ll also have the opportunity to snag a WR should they want to go that route.
Both teams opened up an opportunity to make their teams better with what resources they have available. The Ravens shed a few million in cap space and the Falcons solve their starting TE position.
Agreed. Solid post and reasoning, though many won’t understand or choose to ignore the reasons behind the decisions.
A second round pick? Wth?! Thomas Dimitroff farewell season sheesh…
While the Falcons could have used that pick on something else, it’s not a bad trade by either club. Hurst is on a small salary which means Atlanta will get a game ready TE with upside similar to Hooper (if not better), for far less money.
The problem isn’t giving up a 2nd for Hurst. The problem was giving a bad second contract to a marginal RB, as well as a handful of other deals that were over the cap valuation. Falcons are paying for years of being ‘too friendly’ with their players. Arthur Blank needs to be more shrewd. He can go over budget in the business world if there is reason, but not in the NFL.
I actually like Hurst a lot and think he’s more athletic than Hooper, but a 2nd round pick seems steep when the Ravens had a surplus. I do agree we just plugged in a starting TE for cheap money which is not easy….I dunno I guess it’s hard to forget the last time we traded for TE was a HOFer Gonzalez and that was for a 2nd, not a fair comparison but seems like an overpay when you look at it like that
I can see that, however the deal in itself seems fair. Comparing it to a ridiculous rip off 10 years ago seems a bit unjust. Gonzalez was aging piece on a rebuilding team, and the Falcons won that trade.
My only real concern is whether or not they could have drafted a better TE with the second round pick. If so, then it makes little since unless they just didn’t want to give one two years to develop. The deal in itself seems fair, and comparing it to a ridiculous rip off 10 years ago seems a bit unjust.
I can’t tell if the DeCosta is this good or if Dimitroff is this stupid
I’ll take ‘Both’ for 300 Alex
Hurst is a good TE. The ravens happen to have 2 pretty damn good ones ahead of him. It’s a great deal for Baltimore to recoup value for a 3rd TE but he’s certainly starting caliber.
I was saying this last week actually. That hurst was good enough to be about 15 teams starting TE. The falcons got themself a player. If they needed a TE—would they have found a better one with the 55th pick? I’m not sure that’s a lock. Hurst has 3 years left on his rookie deal so it’s not like they got an expiring contract.
Obvious win for Baltimore because we can grab a 5th round TE to be our #3. And really spend the 2nd round pick on a need.