Unsurprisingly, it sounds like financials were the motivation for the DeAndre Hopkins trade.
ESPN’s Dianna Russini tweets that Hopkins’ camp approached the Texans and requested an extension that would have paid the receiver around $18MM to $20MM per season. Hopkins’ reps also indicated that the wideout would hold out if he wasn’t given a new deal.
We heard similar rumblings earlier this week, with the Texans recognizing that they would have had to renegotiate Hopkins’ contract at some point. Meanwhile, the front office was more focused on securing new deals for Deshaun Watson and offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil,
Ultimately, the Texans traded Hopkins and a fourth-round pick to Arizona for running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-rounder and a 2021 fourth-rounder.
Hopkins signed a five-year, $81MM extension in 2017, and he’s set to make just $12.5MM in 2020. The Cardinals were presumably aware of these financial concerns when making the trade, so it wouldn’t be shocking if Hopkins has a new deal before the start of the regular season.
Hopkins had no leverage, therefore, still a dumb trade… 3 years left to go on the deal. You aren’t going to sit out 3 years
You don’t know that. He’s not hurting for money. He had enough leverage to force a trade.
If you trade him, trade him for a Diggs like package. What they got from the Cardinals was a pittance. I don’t think Hopkins “forced” anything. It was Houston trying to get rid of a guy who was due a lot more money once his time came.
If the article is correct, maybe you need to read it again…his camp indicated that he was going to hold out if the extension wasn’t agreed to by the Texans….that means that he was prepared to sit out until he got what he wanted financially. Of course, that’s if the commentary by Ben Levine is correct.
Most probably Jerry Jones being Jerry Jones.
You know he “held out” before his rookie extension right? For a total of one day.
So imagine how long he would hold out for now that he’s the top WR in football
Four days?
@ Patrick N. , he had very little leverage but still did not mean that BOB had to make THAT trade , he could have gotten a Digg package or better. The rumor at first was that the Cards were going to give us a 2nd just to take DJs contract … BOB should have said we will take DJs contract but give us Patrick Peterson and 2 3rds and we will give you DHop and 2 6s.
Cooper just signed for 20 per, so…
And the Cowboys probably will come to rue that contract when comparing it to production….no way Cooper is worth that kind of money!
While I don’t blame the guy for wanting more money.. if there is truth to him threatening to hold out with two years still to run on the extension he agreed to, then screw him. That’s borderline extortion.
Now, he’s turned the leverage he thought he had, into being shipped to a horrible team. Nice work, Hopkins.
hmmm, watch the Cardinals have a better record than HOU next year.
You sound like a jilted lover btdubs.
things are certainly looking up in Arizona, but i don’t see it this year, especially in that division. Texas will probably stumble into a wild card again out of sheer force of will from Watson and then get smoked in the 1st round.
“That’s borderline extortion”
Not really. They could have and should have let him sit out for two years. No chance he would get anywhere near $18-20 million after two years away from the game and that’s after he’d lose the money from those years (like $25 million). People saw how far Laveon Bell dropped off after a year away, Hopkins away for two full seasons and he’d be lucky to get $10 million per season.
In short, he had very little leverage and I think the Texans should have stood firm and drafted a receiver and maybe signed a lower level WR free agent and planned on life without him.
Cowboys should of traded for Hopkins instead of signing Cooper. I’m not a Dallas fan but know Hopkins much better than Cooper
You say that as if you are 100% sure the offer was on the table for Dallas. We don’t know the ins and outs of how the trade went down.
He’s easily worth that
Imagine that! Arguably the best wide receiver in all of football wanting the same amount of money the second and third best wide receivers in football got. I understand you want to get the deal done with your franchise quarterback and your franchise left tackle but what good is all of that if the guy throwing the ball has no one to throw two. Just another example of what a joke of a head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien is. Should have been fired at least five years ago.
Hopkins already signed a mega deal and had two years left on it. Why give in and renegotiate? Is he going to pull this again next offseason? The one after that? I’m all for players making more money, but I fully understand why the Texans wouldn’t give in here (though they should have gotten a MUCH better return).
i think the cap going up made it something that is to be considered , texans should have traded Fuller for a second and then restructed DHops deal to give him a pay bump over the next 3 years IMO.
Hard to fire a guy that keeps winning the division
If you decide to trade him fine but not for the garbage return they got.
BOB remind me alot of Jeff Fisher just lives around that 9-7 mark.
You mean he requested the going rate? I’m shocked. On the spectrum of GM-Coaches you have at one end Bill Belichick 12-SB appearances and the other end you have Bill O’Brien who traded 2 1st rounders for the 30th best tackle in Tunsil and can’t get a 1st rounder for the best WR in the league.
He had no leverage but regardless, when you see what the Cowboys gave Cooper, his demands don’t seem that ridiculous. It’s just a bit annoying when players who sign long term deals refuse to play after a year or two into them because they want more money and realize they should have waited to sign an extension. You don’t see them offering to give money back when they aren’t living up to their salary. The NFL needs to look at altering rules in the CBA. If a player is under contract and refuses to play in order to hold out, that player should be automatically suspended for the duration of the remainder of their deal and teams should not be allowed to trade or release that player.
Or baby, BOB was mean to him but for the right price he’d have been happy to return…
Half-joking question. Are is a HC or GM subject to the league’s drug policy?
Also, how in the world did they not get any offers from other teams on Hopkins? Eagles didn’t make any offer? Shocking.
The United States economy is in a crisis with unemployment expected to reach levels of at least 20%. How are owners going to honor these massive contracts when the average sports fan is going to be struggling just to pay the mortgage/rent and feed his family?
from what i understand they get paid on game days. so right now no pay checks
The prospect of game days for any sport in the foreseeable future are slim. Arenas and stadiums will remain vacant until an antiviral serum is readily available to the public. The timeline for that happening is uncertain but most estimates I’ve heard are in the 18-24 month range.
so i imagine that for the players that made a great amount of money already they will live off of that … some will burn through it faster with all the free time , some with take out very bad loans the problem is with so many other things to worry about and or feel bad about i do not think too many are going to worry about the athletes and etc.