With his first foray into free agency officially starting later today, receiver DeAndre Hopkins reportedly has hired an agent.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Hopkins has hired Kelton Crenshaw of Clutch Sports.
As recently explained, non-certified agent Saint Omni was believed to be running the show for Hopkins. It prompted at least one team to avoid Hopkins altogether. Multiple teams had decided not to communicate with Hopkins by email, given the habit of players setting up email accounts that their non-certified agents would use to negotiate with teams, while pretending to be the player.
This will be a delicate negotiation, with Hopkins trying to leverage the Chiefs-Bills rivalry into the best possible deal. The extra benefit from getting him comes from keeping the other team from having him.
Play it right, and Hopkins could end up in a much better situation.
The move also suggests that Hopkins isn’t happy with the numbers he’s hearing so far from interested teams, dating back to negotiations that occurred regarding a possible trade for Hopkins.