The latest rumor is Hopkins could be available, so how could the Texans move on from the star
Would the Texans trade DeAndre Hopkins?
Mar 16, 2020, 11:34 am
The latest rumor is Hopkins could be available, so how could the Texans move on from the star
Peter King brought up the rumor. Let's dive into the potential for a Hopkins move.
DeAndre Hopkins available? đź‘€ https://t.co/7FQxpMKSgJÂ pic.twitter.com/UdigKqHTrX
— theScore (@theScore) March 16, 2020
The full rumor from Peter King in his Football Morning in America column on Monday.
"It might be just pre-draft chatter, but two teams over the weekend told me to watch Houston and DeAndre Hopkins, who has three years and a reasonable $40 million left on his contract, and who'd cause only a $3-million cap hit to the Texans if they traded him. Houston is currently in draft hell, without a top-50 pick in 2020 and 2021, and coach Bill O'Brien has huge needs to fill on his offensive line, in the secondary and overall youth on the front seven; J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus will play this year at 31 and 30."
I have also heard Hopkins and O'Brien haven't always heard the coziest relationship.
There is no way the Texans offensive line could be considered as having "huge needs" to fill. The Texans will have every spot with the exception of right guard locked up and likely unchallenged for multiple years when Laremy Tunsil gets his contract extension.
Yes, there is concern about pass rushing age. That's what free agency is for and that isn't a need for 2020 or perhaps even 2021.
DeAndre Hopkins potentially being on the trading block is malpractice by Bill O'Brien. #Texans
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) March 16, 2020
Nuk is heading into his age-28 season and has the following cap hits on the rest of his contract:
2020: $14m
2021: $15m
2022: $14m
That's WR9-WR15 money in today's market.
Hopkins is wildly underpaid. WILDLY. He is the best wideout in football, and if not the best easily top three.
Whatever team gets him would have him on an amazing deal. It would cost just $3 million for the Texans to trade Hopkins and would lead to a savings of $11 million according to Spotrac.
The idea the Texans might be scared of Hopkins wanting a new contract doesn't make sense. Again, it doesn't make sense.
The new CBA has massive penalties for a player who is sitting out training camp. There is no leverage for Hopkins to try to get a new contract. None. So worries about a new deal would be silly. Unfortunate for Hopkins that the market outpaced him but the Texans have no reason to even entertain a new deal for Hopkins and again, Hopkins has no leverage.
One year ago this week, Odell Beckham Jr. was traded to the Browns.
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) March 15, 2020
Better days ahead in Cleveland? pic.twitter.com/EiZmNKPL3g
Odell Beckham went with a player for a first round pick and a third round pick. The Giants also got back two solid players in safety Jabrill Peppers and guard Kevin Zeitler.
If you drop the players and add draft compensation the Texans could certainly rebuild the lack of top draft picks. It is worth noting, most consider this the deepest and best wideout draft class in a while. Would two first round picks or a first and a couple of second round picks get it done?
Amari Cooper was traded for just a first round pick.
Is this enough? Certainly doesn't seem like it would be for a player who has been consistent his whole career and also isn't scheduled to be a free agent for three more years and even then will be 30 years old when his contract runs out.
My understanding of the DeAndre Hopkins/Texans situation: The team has consistently received feelers about trading the star WR over the past couple of years. Thus far, the Texans have rebuffed all offers. Would probably take something eye-popping to get their attention.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 16, 2020
God I hope not. Hopkins is the second-best player in the franchise's history and the best offensive player ever. Replacing him with a rookie or veteran, especially when the other wideouts on the roster are unreliable, would be taking a massive step back. It doesn't help the team win in 2020.
Bill O'Brien would be widely criticized for it and he wouldn't be able to show if he is successful right away while Hopkins would likely crush immediately for a new team. He also would have to answer for the move, he is of course the shot-caller now.
It doesn't make sense, but how many times have you seen the Texans operate in a similar manner under O'Brien? A few times. That's the scary part. It is extremely unlikely. Extremely. But not impossible.
Yordan Alvarez’s hand injury is worse than it originally appeared.
The Houston slugger felt pain in his right hand on Friday while hitting and a small fracture that was previously believed to be a muscle strain was discovered. The fracture is about 60% healed.
General manager Dana Brown said he believes the fracture in Alvarez’s fourth metacarpal wasn’t discovered in initial imaging on May 6 because there was too much inflammation and fluid.
Alvarez has been out since May 3 with the injury. They had hoped he could come off the injured list this weekend.
“The immediate plan for him right now is to just let it rest,” Brown said. “And he’ll still continue to do other baseball activity like the running, he could probably go out in the outfield and catch. He can do everything else except for pick up a bat. And so, we don’t even want him hitting off tees even though he feels good enough to hit off a tee. Just let it heal completely and then you’ll be back.”
Since Friday’s imaging showed that the fracture was already more than halfway healed, Brown doesn’t believe it will keep him out too much longer.
“We’re hopeful that because he’s healed so much that ... he’ll be back sooner rather than later,” Brown said.
Alvarez was asked when he expects to return.
“I wish I had a magic ball to tell you,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “The good news is that it’s healing well, but I need rest because the fact that I was keeping on doing swings, it was taking it back, taking it (longer) to heal.”
Brown added that they think the fracture occurred when Alvarez tried to play through the initial muscle strain. Brown said he played for almost two weeks after initially noticing the problem before the first imaging was done.
“The muscle strain was real,” Brown said. “I really think that when he was fighting through those weeks knowing that it wasn’t the same feeling as some of his hand problems in the past ... maybe that’s when he may have caused a little bit more damage.”
Alvarez hit .210 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season before landing on the injured list.