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Austin Hooper’s future with Falcons feels uncomfortably unsure

The Falcons letting Austin Hooper, one of the league’s emerging forces at tight end, walk in free agency feels like a colossal mistake. It’s also a reset we can’t rule out.

NFL’s Tom Pelissero nearly made me do a spit take when he estimated Hooper could join this elite crop of tight ends who are about to cash in on the market. He guessed the former Stanford standout could command upward of $13 million-plus this March.

If the franchise tag is not an option and Hooper is going to cost Atlanta $13-14 million a season, he will probably not be here this fall.