Why did DeAndre Hopkins choose the Titans?
If you haven’t heard by now, DeAndre Hopkins is going to be a Tennessee Titan. It’s a two-year, $26 million contract with the chance to get up to $32 million with incentives. It’s a move that makes sense from the Titans’ perspective, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Hopkins would take this deal.
From the money aspect, this deal makes sense. A $13 million base salary for a 31-year-old receiver is a great deal, so from that aspect, I suppose I understand.
What is confusing is a couple of months ago when Hopkins said he didn’t want a raise, but to play on a better team. It’s part of why he wanted to leave the Cardinals, he expressed a desire to play for a team that could contend.
This is a perfectly reasonable request for a player like DeAndre Hopkins who has constantly been held back by bad team play. It’s not like he was limited with options either: Deshaun Watson talked about him coming to Cleveland and rumors of him going to Philadelphia surfaced, among others. Overall, it was clear that Hopkins would have his choice of contending teams to go to.
Which is why it just makes no sense to me as to why you would pick the Titans. The Titans aren’t a good football team and are far away from making a serious playoff run.
At quarterback, you still don’t know if Will Levis or Ryan Tannehill will be under center. The passing attack was one of the worst in the league. Hopkins should greatly improve that, but I don’t see it making too much of an impact over the course of the season.
Tannehill sucks and Will Levis will very likely suck as well. Leaving Hopkins stuck in a run-first offense with QBs incapable of getting him the ball downfield.
I really wish I could have been in Hopkins’ mind when he made this decision. To say it’s not about the money, but ending up on a team where it’s clearly about the money, is just funny. If you want to go out and win championships, that’s great–just don’t say that and then sign with a bad team.
Perhaps Hopkins sees something nobody else can: Maybe Levis is going to have a great rookie year or maybe this Titans offense just takes a leap and becomes one of the best units in the game. I seriously doubt those end up being the case.
I usually feel bad for guys stuck in situations like this. If Hopkins does waste the rest of his career with the Titans, I honestly will find it funny. You had the choice to play pretty much anywhere and you for some reason choose Tennessee. But enjoy regretting that decision for the rest of your life Deandre Hopkins.
The Titans need a lot of help, much more than the addition of just DeAndre Hopkins could bring them, Maybe with Derrick Henry, they can find a way to make this offense decent or maybe Will Levis just comes in and sucks like many think he will.
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