Houston Texans: The ‘what’ in DeAndre Hopkins contract situation
Another phase of the Houston Texans off season has begun with the team going through the nuances of mandatory minicamp.
This is perfect time for all Houston Texans to band together — with the vets forming a rapport with the new kids on the block. There are many of those guys to welcome on board starting with rookie phenom quarterback Deshaun Watson. Yes, I’m already calling him a phenom before he has even passed for a down in the NFL but he has that star power. It’s the type of power that will not extinguish for a long time.
We’ll also welcome Zach Cunningham, D’Onta Foreman, Julién Davenport, Carlos Watkins, Treston Decoud and Kyle Fuller into the fold along with a plethora of undrafted free agents. This is a critical time for everything to fuse together but it can sometimes symbolize other things.
What am I talking about?
This also the time where contracts get done in the off season and there are usually are some winners and losers as some players decide to hold out. Duane Brown is currently taking a stand to get his contract — he certainly has reason to — renegotiated. This likely to guarantee him more money as he ages and to get him in line with other offensive linemen of his caliber. His once-rich, six-year, $53 million deal puts him in the middle of the pack among his counterparts.
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So Brown will keep holding out as long as he can and we’ll continue to see his affinity for pull-ups on his Instagram account while he works out elsewhere. Haha!
But enough about Brown — let’s talk about DeAndre Hopkins, a guy that you’d consider another cornerstone to the franchise — along with Brown — as he’s one of the most-talented wide receivers that I’ve ever seen. “Nuk,” the namesake that his mother coined for him because of his childhood amour for the plastic, rubber thing that babies get is about to get some pacifying of his own with a new deal.
As it stands, Hopkins is currently on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal that’s worth $7.915 million in 2017. Although his numbers were down because of you know who *cough* *cough* Brock Osweiler was throwing to him, he’s still a Top 10 wide receiver in this league. He should be paid like one too. Antonio Brown leads the pack with a four-year, $68 million deal with $19 million singing bonus (always guaranteed) and making about $17 million per year.
Hopkins won’t get that money but I could definitely see him signing a contract similar to Doug Baldwin‘s last year which is worth four-years, $46 million with $24.2 guaranteed, giving him $11.5 million per.
With some maneuvers made early by Rick Smith getting freed of Osweiler’s contract and the fact that Tony Romo didn’t sign with the Houston Texans, it gives the team about $33.1 million to play with this year and that cap space balloons over the next few years. It’s estimated to be at about $41 million in 2018 and more than doubles to $86.1 million in 2019. So yes, the Texans have the money to do what they need and extending Hopkins — then hopefully Brown — should be highest of priorities.
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Smith continues to assert that it’s something that he wants to do. Well, it’s about time to get it done! Let’s not have our wide receiver in the dark about his future with the Houston Texans. At least he is saying that he loves being here but I’m wondering if that tune will change if the team starts jacking around with his well-deserved pay bump. Because I’ll tell you what, if we don’t pay him, somebody else will. And you can take that to the bank.
Go Texans.