Texans head coach/general manager Bill O’Brien has been getting roasted this week for a trade he pulled off to send superstar receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona.
I still haven’t found anyone who thinks the Cardinals didn’t absolutely fleece the Texans. As a reminder of the reported terms:
Texans get: RB David Johnson, 2020 second-round pick, 2021 fourth-round pick
Cardinals get: WR DeAndre Hopkins, 2020 fourth-round pick
Yeah, it’s complete malpractice to not get back a first-round pick for Hopkins. And that trade left many Eagles fans wondering why the heck the Eagles weren’t involved.
Apparently, they were, at least to some extent.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was on Farzetta & Tra in the Morning on 97.5 on Wednesday and said the Texans did talk to the Eagles about Hopkins.
Now, Schefter says the Eagles talked to the Texans “at one point” and it’s unclear if the Eagles got a call right before the trigger was pulled on this lopsided move. And in fairness to the Eagles, they don’t have any washed running backs on hefty deals at the moment.
While I’m kind of joking about the washed running backs, it seems like the Texans’ big fault (or at least one of them) in this whole thing was that they overvalued Johnson. And if they didn’t see a player on the Eagles they valued like that, then the draft pick compensation likely would have been higher.
NFL
Back to Hopkins: It’s true that Hopkins is going to want a new deal but he’s still under contract for three more seasons and is arguably the best receiver in the NFL. He’s still just 27 and has never been a speed guy anyway. Even if there has been some decline, as the Texans reportedly think, he’s still one of the best receivers in the NFL. He has been an All-Pro the last three seasons!
If Howie Roseman really had a chance to land Hopkins for a relatively minimal trade and instead the Eagles are just hoping to hit on a receiver in the draft, that’ll be tough to swallow for Eagles fans. While this draft class is stocked with receivers, there’s a really strong chance none of them will ever be as good as Hopkins is right now.
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