Malik Hooker is getting more money entering his third season with the Dallas Cowboys.
The former Ohio State safety agreed to a three-year, $24 million contract extension with the Cowboys on Friday that includes an $8 million signing bonus and $16.5 million in guaranteed money, according to reports by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Hooker is now under contract with the Cowboys for the next four years. He signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the team in 2022 after initially joining the Cowboys in 2021.
The six-year NFL veteran is coming off the best season of his professional football career in 2022, when he recorded a career-high 62 total tackles, tied his career-best mark with three interceptions and scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a 38-yard fumble return against the Indianapolis Colts, the team he started his career with.
Malik Hooker having a night against his former team!
— NFL (@NFL) December 5, 2022
: #INDvsDAL on NBC
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/l6eZ8mVvcp pic.twitter.com/sY7kKnbeRn
Selected by the Colts with the No. 15 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft, Hooker never lived up to expectations in Indianapolis, where he was plagued by injuries throughout his tenure. Since joining the Cowboys, however, Hooker has become a key piece of the Dallas secondary as its starting free safety, reminding the league why he was a unanimous All-American in his final season at Ohio State in 2016.
