The latest rumor is Hopkins could be available, so how could the Texans move on from the star

Would the Texans trade DeAndre Hopkins?

Would the Texans trade DeAndre Hopkins?
DeAndre Hopkins and the Texans were oh, so close. Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Peter King brought up the rumor. Let's dive into the potential for a Hopkins move.

The rumor

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.

The money

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.

What could the Texans get?

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.

So, will they do it?

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.

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Houston beat Purdue, 62-60. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Houston spent time this week practicing an inbound play that coach Kelvin Sampson thought his team might need against Purdue.

Milos Uzan, the third option, ran it to perfection.

He tossed the ball to Joseph Tugler, who threw a bounce pass right back to Uzan, and the 6-foot-4 guard soared to the rim for an uncontested layup with 0.9 seconds left, giving the top-seeded Cougars a 62-60 victory — and a matchup with second-seeded Tennessee in Sunday's Elite Eight.

“Great execution at a time we needed that,” said Sampson, who is a win away from making his third Final Four and his second with Houston in five years. “You never know when you’re going to need it.”

The Cougars (33-4) made only one other basket over the final eight minutes, wasted a 10-point lead and then missed two more shots in the final 5 seconds. A replay review with 2.2 seconds left confirmed Houston would keep the ball when it rolled out of bounds after the second miss.

Uzan took over from there.

“I was trying to hit (L.J. Cryer) and then JoJo just made a great read,” Uzan said. “He was able to draw two (defenders) and he just made a great play to hit me back.”

Houston advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in five years after falling in the Sweet 16 as a top seed in the previous two editions of March Madness. It will take the nation's longest winning streak, 16 games, into Sunday’s Midwest Region final.

The Cougars joined the other three No. 1 seeds in this year's Elite Eight and did it at Lucas Oil Stadium, where their 2021 tourney run ended with a loss in the Final Four to eventual national champion Baylor.

They haven't lost since Feb. 1.

Uzan scored 22 points and Emanuel Sharp had 17 as Houston survived an off night from leading scorer Cryer, who finished with five points on 2-of-13 shooting.

Houston still had to sweat out a half-court heave at the buzzer, but Braden Smith's shot was well off the mark.

Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 and Smith, the Big Ten player of the year, added seven points and 15 assists for fourth-seeded Purdue (24-12). Smith assisted on all 11 second-half baskets for last year’s national runner-up, which played in front of a friendly crowd about an hour’s drive from its campus in West Lafayette.

“I thought we fought really hard and we dug down defensively to get those stops to come back,” Smith said. “We did everything we could and we just had a little miscommunication at the end and they converted. Props to them.”

Houston appeared on the verge of disaster when Kaufman-Renn scored on a dunk and then blocked Cryer’s shot with 1:17 to go, leading to Camden Heide’s 3 that tied the score at 60 with 35 seconds left.

Sampson called timeout to set up the final play, but Uzan missed a turnaround jumper and Tugler’s tip-in rolled off the rim and out of bounds. The Cougars got one more chance after the replay review.

Sharp's scoring flurry early in the second half finally gave Houston some separation after a back-and-forth first half. His 3-pointer at the 16:14 mark made it 40-32. After Purdue trimmed the deficit to four, Uzan made two 3s to give Houston a 10-point lead in a tough, physical game that set up a rare dramatic finish in this year's tourney.

“Smith was guarding the inbounder, so he had to take JoJo,” Sampson said. “That means there was no one there to take Milos. That's why you work on that stuff day after day.”

Takeaways

Purdue: Coach Matt Painter's Boilermakers stumbled into March Madness with six losses in their final nine games but proved themselves a worthy competitor by fighting their way into the Sweet 16 and nearly taking down a No. 1 seed.

Houston: The Cougars lead the nation in 3-point percentage and scoring defense, an enviable combination.

Scary fall

Houston guard Mylik Wilson gave the Cougars a brief scare with 13:23 left in the game. He leapt high into the air to grab a rebound and drew a foul on Kaufman-Renn.

As the play continued, Wilson was undercut and his body twisted around before he landed on his head. Wilson stayed down momentarily, rubbing his head, but eventually got up and remained in the game.

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