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Houston Texans Report: Why Extending DeAndre Hopkins Makes Sense

By Brian K. Patterson

Jan 7, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) reacts in the second quarter against the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Wild Card playoff football game at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) reacts in the second quarter against the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Wild Card playoff football game at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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And here we are Houston Texans fans.  With less than a week to go before the NFL’s free agency period begins, there’s actually a lot of buzz going into that landmark date.

And here we are Houston Texans fans.  With less than a week to go before the NFL’s free agency period begins, there’s actually a lot of buzz going into that landmark date.

Yes, March 7th is the date that NFL teams can beginning negotiating deals for free agents as well as the players that they already have.

March 9th is the date where those said deals can become official.

There are a lot of priorities this season for the Houston Texans in terms of shaping this roster.

The uncertainty of the quarterback position, rebuilding the offensive line, re-signing A.J. Bouye and retaining our talented players.

With Brock Osweiler‘s underwhelming play under center this past season, the Texans are definitely on the hunt for another quarterback.

Will they talk with Tony Romo?  Will they draft a quarterback? We’ll have to see.

But one thing’s for sure — there’s certainly something the Texans need to do that’s a no-brainer decision no matter the consequences.

What’s that you might ask?

Re-signing our star wideout DeAndre Hopkins to a long-term deal.

The rumors started to heat up earlier this week about the Texans intent and Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com was certainly on it like white on rice.

The Texans responded accordingly by publicly expressing their desire to do so but the biggest question is not a matter of if but when?

Now’s the perfect time.

With the level of production that Hopkins churns out season after season, he’s vastly underpaid, still working off his four-year, $7.9 million rookie deal.

He had been making about $2 million per season; but as of last April, the Texans picked up his fifth-year option worth $7.9 million having him under contract through the end of the 2017 season.

The average annual salary for an NFL wide receiver of Nuk’s caliber is within the range of about $13 million so the Texans have a lot of catching up to do in terms of rewarding one of their best players.

Next: Will We See The Return Of A.J. Bouye?

Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas and T.Y. Hilton are within that salary range and Hopkins should be too.

Despite having a revolving door of quarterbacks throw to him over his tenure with the Texans, he has continued to shine and it’s only a testament of how much better he can be once he gets the quarterback he deserves.

I’m hopeful that will happen because he won’t reach his full potential until then.

But in the meantime, we’ll have to wait and see how this all shakes out.

Hopkins, 24, caught 78 balls for 954 yards (12.2 yards per reception) with four touchdowns in 2016, his lowest numbers since his rookie season.

And we all know why.

Go Texans.

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