In case you missed it, the Titans won the sweepstakes for five-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Tennessee signed him to a two-year, $26M contract that can be boosted up to $32M with a few incentives.
It seemed coming into the weekend that it was a two-team race between the Titans and Patriots, but New England ended up just falling short, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
For weeks, Tennessee and New England were the only visits Hopkins had taken, but a deal didn’t seem imminent with either organization, despite an unofficial soft deadline of training camp to get a deal done. Many seemed to think that Hopkins was waiting for more teams to jump into the mix.
Perhaps Kansas City would find a way to clear some cap space by extending defensive tackle Chris Jones, effectively allowing them into the race. Or, maybe, another team with cap space might suffer an injury that leaves them in need of a No. 1 receiver.
Even if new suitors emerged, the Patriots felt they were in a strong position after Hopkins’s visit. The veteran receiver was well-received by current players, and the presence of offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien in New England only helped the team’s case.
Some of Hopkins’s most impressive seasons came with O’Brien as his head coach in Houston. The idea of reuniting with his former head coach kept the Patriots in contention, alongside Tennessee.
The feeling for weeks has been that New England liked Hopkins, according to Phil Perry of NBCS Boston. He clearly still has gas in the tank and is familiar with their new offensive coordinator’s system.
He would also provide some veteran depth and leadership at a position that has two players with significant injury history in JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker. Providing their young, developing quarterback with a star receiver could prove invaluable.
As much as they like him, though, nobody was expecting them to pay the big bucks to obtain him. They reportedly had the ability to match the Titans offer.
According to Perry, they could’ve beaten Tennessee’s offer if they really wanted to. Instead, Hopkins will head to Nashville, and the Patriots will have to hope that their wide receiving corps will have what it takes to get the job done.
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