Houston Texans: DeAndre Hopkins Deserves Contract Extension
By Nick Ziegler
The Houston Texans have one of the best receivers in the NFL in DeAndre Hopkins, and the time has come to lock him up long-term.
DeAndre Hopkins has emerged as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL for the Houston Texans, and as he enters his fourth season in the NFL, he is beginning to think about getting a new contract. In recent years, the Texans have been very proactive with giving some players extensions that they think highly of, as J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus each received a new contract after playing in three seasons.
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Wide receivers have been getting good-sized contracts this offseason, as Doug Baldwin, Keenan Allen, and Allen Hurns all received deals that were worth more than $10 million per season. With no disrespect to any of those players, Hopkins is on another level and will be becoming one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. A.J. Green is currently the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL, as he is making $15 million per season. Hopkins will likely be in that range, but he isn’t giving any specifics on what he desires.
"“I’m not looking for a certain range,” Hopkins said to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com. “I just want to be treated for what I’m worth. That’s fair to say, right?”"
The Texans’ organization is very aware of how good Hopkins is, as they have picked up his fifth-year option this offseason. In the past two seasons, Hopkins has been able to play at a very high level even without having a great quarterback throwing him the ball.
In 2014, Hopkins had his breakout season, as he totaled 76 receptions, 1,210 receiving yards, and six receiving touchdowns. Those numbers were outstanding for Hopkins, but he got even better last season. In 2015, Hopkins totaled 111 receptions, 1,521 receiving yards, and 11 receiving touchdowns.
“D-Hop is really, really emerging into one of the better wide receivers in the league and you’re right, we exercised the option so this isn’t his last year,” Texan general manager Rick Smith said to Ganguli. “He certainly is one of those guys that we’re going to keep around here for a long time hopefully. He’s working hard.”
Hopkins isn’t letting any of the contract talks affect him yet, as he is happy to be playing in Houston, and will be letting his agents handle the contract negotiations. “You know, that’s between my agents and the Texans,” Hopkins said to Ganguli. “I love this city. I don’t want to play anywhere else but here. So the rest will work itself out, hopefully.”
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This coming season, Hopkins will be poised for another great season, as the Texans hope that they have found their franchise quarterback in Brock Osweiler. Hopkins will be looking forward to having Osweiler as his quarterback, but he will also be a huge part in the development of Osweiler as a quarterback. Just because the Texans paid Osweiler like he is a great quarterback, that doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing for him from the start.
Hopkins might not be thinking about his contract anytime soon, but he is certainly well-deserving of getting a nice contract extension.