HEADLINES

AFC Notes: Texans, Bills, Pats, Browns

April 18th, 2017 at 7:31pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Texans hope to extend wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and accomplishing that will likely require the club to give him a five-year deal worth upward of $70MM, including $40MM-plus in guarantees, observes CBS Sports’ Joel Corry (via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle). That type of pact would put Hopkins in the same company as fellow pass-catching stars such as Atlanta’s Julio Jones, Dallas’ Dez Bryant and Denver’s Demaryius Thomas. While an extension for Hopkins is expected, it’s not imminent, per Wilson. As of now, Hopkins is slated to make $7.915MM in 2017, his fifth-year option season.

More from the AFC:

  • The Bills need to match the Patriots’ offer sheet to restricted free agent Mike Gillislee and stop the flow of talent to New England, opines Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. The Pats signed Gillislee to a two-year, $6.4MM contract, including $4MM in 2017, after adding ex-Bills receiver and then-RFA Chris Hogan on a front-loaded deal last offseason. That worked out well for New England and poorly for Buffalo in 2016. Unlike the Hogan situation, the Bills would receive compensation for Gillislee’s departure – a fifth-round pick – but they’d lose another important member of their offense to an AFC East rival. The Bills could have avoided this situation by tendering Gillislee at a second-round level, which only would have cost them about $1MM extra, Rodak notes. In that scenario, Gillislee would have been on the Bills’ books this year at a reasonable $2.7MM.
  • Joe Haden‘s willingness to play through injuries last season may have kept him in a Browns uniform, the cornerback explained to Scott Patsko of cleveland.com on Tuesday. New defensive coordinator Gregg Williams told Haden he would have advised the team to move on from him had he not gutted out his groin issues. “When I first got here, I went to his office and we talked for a while,” said Haden. “He told me, ‘If you didn’t play through your injury, I would tell them to get you out of here.'” Haden last year suited up for 13 games, eight more than he appeared in during an injury-marred 2015. The two-time Pro Bowler was the subject of trade rumors during the fall, but the Browns elected to keep him.
  • A couple of potential early round draft picks, Cal wide receiver Chad Hansen and Michigan cornerback Jourdan Lewis, visited the Patriots on Tuesday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Doug Kyed of NESN (Twitter links). One could end up with the Patriots with their first selection, which is scheduled for No. 72 overall. Of course, the Pats are likely to acquire a much earlier pick if they trade cornerback Malcolm Butler.
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