DeAndre Hopkins has found a new NFL team for the 2023 season. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the All-Pro wide receiver is expected to sign a two-year, $26 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. The deal has a base value of $12 million for Year 1 with a chance to get up to $15 million. Overall, the contract can be worth up to $32 million with incentives.
Hopkins was released from the Arizona Cardinals in May and visited with the Titans in June. The 30-year-old then visited the New England Patriots before agreeing to sign with the Titans. In his last two seasons, Hopkins missed 15 games due to injuries and a six-game suspension. In his three seasons with the Cardinals, Hopkins played in 35 games and caught 221 passes for 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl in 2020, the fifth time he was selected to play in the game.
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Hopkins was selected by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. In his seven years with the team, Hopkins caught 632 passes for 8,602 yards and 54 touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Bowl four times and the All-Pro First Team from 2017-2019. Hopkins was traded to the Cardinals in March 2020, which led to some criticism from Texans head coach Bill O’Brien.
In May while Hopkins was still with the Cardinals, he appeared on the I AM ATHLETE podcast to reveal what he’s looking for in a team at this point in his career. “What I want is stable management upstairs. I think that’s something I haven’t really had the past couple years of my career coming from Houston and then to Arizona,” Hopkins said, per Pro Football Talk. “I’ve been through three or four GMs in my career, so a stable management. A QB who loves the game, a QB who brings everybody on board with him and pushes not just himself but everybody around him . . . and a great defense. A great defense wins championships.”
Hopkins joins a Titans team that finished 7-10 last year and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2018 season. One thing to watch for with the Titans is the quarterback position as the team has veteran Ryan Tannehill, but they also drafted Malik Willis in 2022 and Will Levis in April.
