Thus far, since his release from the Arizona Cardinals a couple weeks ago, the market for DeAndre Hopkins’ services has been pretty tepid. There have been very few rumors of interest bubbling up, at least very few rumors of teams looking to pay what Hopkins sees as list price for his services.
The standard answer, when coaches are asked about Hopkins, seems to be some version of (a) not mentioning Hopkins by name and (b) lauding their own receiver room. Mike Vrabel, former Texans defensive coordinator and current Tennessee Titans head coach, gave this answer when asked about Hopkins possibly joining the Titans last week:
Vrabel passed the test — no Hopkins mention, and a casual nod to “the players we have here.” Good job, Mike! Of course, it’s the NFL, where lying (or at least dancing around the truth) is a ritual with coaches involved in fluid personnel situations, so it should be no surprise that Hopkins now has a visit scheduled to go meet with Vrabel and the Titans:
This is Hopkins first visit to another team, as a free agent, in his decade long career. What does it all mean, as perhaps the DeAndre Hopkins market begins to gain steam? Let’s discuss:
How good (or bad) a fit is Tennessee, football wise?
Well, put it this way — Tennessee needs Hopkins more than Hopkins needs Tennessee. Right now, the Titans are a team that has drafted quarterbacks in each of the last two drafts (Malik Willis in 2022, Will Levis in 2023), and they still appear to be ready to trot a possibly broken Ryan Tannehill out there in Week 1. I suppose Hopkins has some familiarity with new Titans OC Tim Kelly, who was the OC in Houston in Hopkins final season as a Texan, but this does not appear to be a team, nor an offense, that the addition of Hopkins puts “over the top.”
But wait, isn’t Mike Vrabel an “O’Brien Guy”?
It’s no secret that Hopkins and Bill O’Brien didn’t see eye to eye when the two worked with each other in Houston. A big part of that was Hopkins unwillingness to practice on a regular basis, if at all. As part of O’Brien’s staff, Vrabel got to see that dynamic up close. I don’t know if Vrabel sings off the same sheet of music as O’Brien when it comes to player relations. If the Titans sign Hopkins, Vrabel knows what he’s getting, and the mere fact that they’re hosting him on a visit tells me that he’s probably okay with it.
Tennessee, the home for wayward former Houston Texans
Of course, while Tennessee may not make sense on paper from a football perspective, Hopkins landing there would continue a trend of former Texans spending some time in Titans gear. Last season, at one point, there were eight former Texans on the Titans roster, including Ben Jones, Zach Cunningham and Lonnie Johnson. Right now, Shyheim Carter, Jaleel Johnson, and Chris Moore are the only former Texans, so Hopkins can help Vrabel get to his quota of at least a half dozen former Texans playing for Tennessee!
Hopkins would get to face the Texans twice a season
Then, there is the small bonus for Hopkins that he would get to face his former team twice a year. Normally, I would say “Who cares?” except Hopkins spent ample time on Twitter poking fun at how piss poor the Texans became after they traded him, so if picking on a team that’s won 11 games in three seasons is your deal, it would stand to reason that the chance to ring them up for 100 yards a couple times might be enticing.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
