The Ravens have traded tight end Hayden Hurst and a 2020 fourth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for 2020 second-round and fifth-round picks, according to multiple reports.
The move was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Tight end Austin Hooper, who caught 75 passes for 787 yards and six touchdowns for the Falcons a year ago, will reportedly sign with the Cleveland Browns when the new league year begins March 18, opening up the position for Atlanta.
Hurst, who will turn 27 in August, was one of the Ravens’ two first-round picks in 2018. Baltimore traded back twice to select Hurst No. 25 overall and then traded back into the first round to take quarterback Lamar Jackson No. 32 overall. Hurst caught 44 passes for 559 yards and two touchdowns as a junior at South Carolina.
Hurst was limited to 12 games in 2018 after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot shortly before the season started. He ended up catching 13 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown, never becoming fully in-sync with Joe Flacco and later Jackson. He was also never fully healthy.
In 2019, Hurst played all 16 games and started four, catching 30 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns. But Hurst (39 targets) fell well behind Mark Andrews (98) as a preferred target for Jackson, and Nick Boyle played more snaps than either Hurst or Andrews as the blocking tight end in a run-heavy offense.
However, Hurst did have one particularly memorable moment as a Raven:
In Atlanta, Hurst has a chance to see more targets than he did in Baltimore and show off the athleticism and soft hands he displayed during his college career at South Carolina. As for Baltimore, it now has five picks in the first three rounds, including two in the second round.
Hurst becomes the Ravens’ shortest-tenured first-rounder ever, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.
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