I think Rick Smith needs to spread the love that was given to him and give DeAndre a new 6 year contract!! Let's guarantee he stays with us a few more years!! He's proven more than Brock has in his NFL career.
Honestly,McNair will end up paying a lot more a year from now, so McNair's new contract man Rick Smith should make an exception for our best receiver who has superstar potential. Jump on this opportunity to secure a future with the Texans for years to come before salaries skyrocket even more.
1. He's not JJ 2. They only have about 10 mil worth of cap space to give him, so he'd either have to sign a back loaded deal or take 10 mil a year which is under market value.
Hopkins is the best offensive player we have. He might not equivalent to JJ Watt's production on offense but he pretty darn close. Therfore, we need to find away to pay the man. He deserves it.
Ok, you say "find a way"......with a hard cap, they can't just conjure up money. If the $10M they have in cap space this year (along with a back-loaded deal) isn't enough, where does the rest of the money come from?? I understand where DeAndre is coming from, and I do think the Texans will do everything they can to make a deal work, but it isn't as simple as you're making it out to be. This isn't a case where the front office and ownership are being cheap.....they are going to have to legitimately get creative.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hopkins signing for the fans. Fans start chanting. “Pay The Man.” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a> <a href="https://t.co/UythIWNXbs">pic.twitter.com/UythIWNXbs</a></p>— PDS (@PatDStat) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatDStat/status/760145763968004097">August 1, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Can anyone explain why the Texans are being sticklers this go around? Because he is a WR? New policy? To not even discuss a contract is strange to me. I haven't seen them make a firm stance like this ever so it seems like an odd time to do it to arguably your best player last season and IMO best receiver in the league given the QB situation. I just hope Hopkins comes in with the right mind set and teaches the young guys how to be professional. He will get his money eventually if he can just do what he has done the past 3 years.
(1) It sets a precedent to all players that you can't just demand a contract extension / more money when you want it. If this were the case, players would be coming out of the wood work at any time just demanding more money and thinking management will just give it them. (2) JJ is a historic player, and one of his nature doesn't come around too often. His case is a bit different IMO DHop will get his money, especially if he has a year comparable to last. If that's the case, he'll get more money at the end of this season as compared to whatever he's demanding right now.
Please across the league, players are seeking bigger contracts. Especially after they had a pretty good season. Hopkins did something that most great receivers never done before, and that's put up big numbers with 4 different quarterbacks. That's pretty remarkable.
They are treating him the same way they've treated everyone else. The Texans have a long standing policy of not negotiating with players while they are holding out, the negotiations can begin once they show up to camp. Also, if Vonn Miller could wait an extra year, is it REALLY asking too much for Nuk to do the same since the money he's looking for isn't there this offseason?
Ok, so now that he is back in camp they can start negotiating? I read a Smith interview where I thought he said they will not negotiate during the season but that must have been if he sat out camp. I don't blame Hopkins one bit for his brief hiatus. The Texans extended Mercilus who showed promise but that would stick in my mind if Hopkins regardless of the money that is something that is hard to understand when you want to sign your post-rookie contract.
The owner said they will take care of him. It could be before the season starts or sometime during the regular season.