DeAndre Hopkins Wants To Spend Career With Texans
As a 2013 draftee, Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is eligible for a contract extension for the first time this winter. Houston may not rush into negotiations, since the team still holds a fifth-year option on Hopkins for 2017, but if it were up to him, the wideout would welcome a long-term offer to remain with the Texans. In fact, Hopkins wouldn’t mind spending his entire career in Houston, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes.
[RELATED: Texans to seek quarterback upgrade]
“If I can play my whole career here, I would,” Hopkins said. “I love this place. This organization took a chance on drafting me. You have to look at that…. I love this organization. I love the fans here. I’ll never forget after we went 2-14 (2013), I don’t recall too many fans bailing out on us. It speaks a lot about this city and who they are.”
Despite catching passes from a rotating cast of quarterbacks since making his NFL debut in 2013, Hopkins has managed to take major steps forward each season, and is now one of the most productive pass-catchers in the league. After grabbing 76 balls for 1,210 yards and six touchdowns in 2014, the Clemson product improved his numbers across the board en route to his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015, recording 111 receptions, 1,521 receiving yards, and 11 TDs.
There has been no indication yet that the Texans have engaged in contract extension negotiations with Hopkins, but there’s still plenty of time to do so. Houston’s previous deal with J.J. Watt also shows that the club is willing to get something done with its top players well before their fifth-year options take effect. Watt and the Texans reached an agreement in early September during the fourth year of Watt’s rookie contract, so if the team follows the same script this time around, that could mean getting serious about a Hopkins extension in the summer.
While Hopkins may want to remain in Houston for his entire NFL career, that doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily want to take a hometown discount. As Wilson outlines, the 23-year-old recently switched agents, hiring Creative Artists Agency to represent him. Star receivers like Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, and Demaryius Thomas all had their recent mega-deals – which are each worth around $14MM per year – negotiated by CAA reps.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AFC Notes: M. Williams, Wallace, Hopkins
We rounded up several NFC notes earlier this afternoon. Now, let’s shift our focus to the AFC….
- Speaking today to reporters, including ESPN’s Mike Rodak, Bills defensive end Mario Williams insisted that he hasn’t tried to be outwardly critical of Rex Ryan’s defensive scheme, and that he’s just giving honest answers when asked about it. It seems somewhat unlikely, given the issues Williams has had this year, that he’ll be back in Buffalo next year when his cap hit increases to nearly $20MM.
- Unlike Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Steelers center Cody Wallace won’t receive a suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Broncos safety David Bruton Jr. on Sunday, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. Wallace’s hit, which came after the play, was arguably worse than Beckham’s shot at Josh Norman, but it sounds like he’ll just be fined to the tune of $23K+ for the play, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- DeAndre Hopkins‘ agent, Hadley Engelhard, met with the Texans recently, and spoke about – among other things – how his client has already played with eight quarterbacks during his three-year NFL career, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. The QB turnover hasn’t slowed down Hopkins’ production at all, but it figures to be something that comes up again between Engelhard and the Texans when the wideout becomes extension-eligible next month.
- Before he retires, Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson has scored one last payday. As Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, Woodson gets a $250K bonus for being named to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday night.
Sunday Roundup: AFC North, Broncos, Lions
Let’s have a look at some notes from around the league as we head into the afternoon of this ever-important June 1:
- Greg Gabriel of the National Football Post identifies a few second-year players in the AFC North that might break out in 2014.
- Matt Zenitz of the Carroll County Times identifies a few free agents the Ravens could target to address their biggest needs, right tackle and cornerback.
- Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes that the Steelers are working hard to reestablish their identity has a running team, and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette similarly notes that LeGarrette Blount hopes to provide a strong complement to Le’Veon Bell.
- In his weekly mailbag, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com notes that although Browns coaches are excited about the potential of the team’s offensive line, they are reserving judgment until they see how the unit adapts to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan‘s zone-blocking scheme.
- Mike Klis of the Denver Post notes that the Broncos are currently carrying seven running backs on their roster, none of whom have a regular season start. Klis believes the team should not go after one of the remaining veteran free agents–Felix Jones, Michael Bush, and Ronnie Brown, for instance–to take reps away from Denver’s stable of young-but-intriguing RBs, but he concedes that it will be a tough call.
- In a separate piece, Klis writes that Broncos‘ QB Peyton Manning intends to play out his contract with Denver, which runs through 2016 (Manning will turn 40 in March of that year).
- In two separate pieces, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union discusses how a healthy Roy Miller will impact the Jaguars‘ defense and Gus Bradley’s creation of the “Otto” linebacker, who will replace the traditional “Sam” linebacker and serve as a “physical/athletic/versatile player who will be positioned along the line of scrimmage.” Dekoda Watson will enter the season as the team’s “Otto.”
- Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle writes that second-year wideout DeAndre Hopkins surprisingly became one of the few holdovers from the Texans‘ tumultuous 2013 season, and he is essentially a rookie again in 2014. Smith notes, however, that Hopkins has prepared himself well for the challenge.
- Kevin Meinke of MLive.com writes that Lions‘ defensive end Devin Taylor is an integral component of new defensive coordinator Teryl Austin‘s desire to bring pressure from all three levels of the defense, and, in a similar vein, Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News writes that players believe aggressiveness will be a hallmark of the Lions’ defense in 2014.