DeAndre Hopkins leaves town, disappointing Patriots fans

Free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins left Foxboro without signing a contract to be a Patriot in 2023. This should be viewed as a huge L for the Patriots and their fans.

According to all reports, Hopkins’ visit with the Patriots went extremely well. Hopkins even posted a picture on Instagram of him with linebacker and chief New England recruiter, Matthew Judon, with the caption “La Familia” which, I believe, translates to “The Family.” Sounds promising to me. Then, again, it sounds like his visit with Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans went well also.

The Patriots appear to be $14 million under the cap. The Titans have $7.7 million. Odell Beckham signed with the Baltimore Ravens for $15 million and he didn’t even play last year due to a torn ACL. Hopkins had three 100-plus receptions seasons as recently as 2018-2020. It is logical to believe Hopkins would want something exceeding Beckham’s deal. The Titans would have to cut a lot of players to find Hopkins the money. The Patriots are almost already there.

So why was Hopkins allowed to leave Gillette? It sounds like Hopkins is not a big fan of practice. If he signs now, he would be expected to go through a full camp which starts in mid-July. If he waits, he could miss most of camp and need only be ready to play once the season starts.

From a Patriots’ perspective, New England would be perfect for Hopkins if he only has a short period of time to acclimate with a new offense. He played for new offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, in Houston where he had his best years. He should be familiar with the offense unless O’Brien learned a lot of new tricks while coaching in college.

So if Hopkins was offered more than Tennessee could afford to give him, and Hopkins knows O’Brien knows how to use him, why is he not signed? I have two thoughts on this:

1. Hopkins doesn’t really want to play for New England because he doesn’t view them as Super Bowl, or even playoff, contenders in a stacked AFC. He also doesn’t view Mac Jones as a quarterback who can consistently get him the ball, unlike Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. That is where he really wants to suit up - Buffalo or Kansas City. He may be opting to wait to see if there is an injury or a hold out (Stephon Diggs?) which could prompt one of those two teams to revisit Hopkins.
2. And, secondly, I really hope this is not the case - Bill Belichick is being cheap and not offering Hopkins the full $14 million that the Patriots can spend. Hopkins would forget about the Titans, and even the Bills and the Chiefs, if the Patriots blow those teams out of the water, contractually. Obviously, the Patriots did not do that.
   

If Hopkins is playing wait and see, one cannot blame the Patriots for not sealing the deal. However, if Hopkins left town because of money, Belichick deserves to be roasted, as does Robert Kraft. Kraft is completely in his right as an owner to step in and tell Belichick money should be no obstacle in signing Hopkins. I don’t want to hear Hopkins would have signed in New England if they would have upped their offer by two or three million dollars per year. If he wants a long term contract for $20 million per year, that is a different story. But if the Patriots are offering $13 million, and Hopkins wants $16 million, that is a problem. Would Kraft be willing to sacrifice a possible deep run in the playoffs for $3 million? He probably makes $3 million in one day in the stock market.

In my view, Hopkins getting on a plane to leave New England signals the end of their chances of signing the future Hall of Famer. He never should have been allowed to leave. They should have given him an offer he could not refuse. You want $16 million? Fine. You don’t want to practice? Fine, you can have Tuesdays off and not have to report to camp until a couple of weeks prior to the start of the regular season.

This should have been a done deal by now.