Last week, DeAndre Hopkins finally got a chance to speak with the Arizona media. This week, a good story by Greg Bishop on SI.com, which got a little more in-depth mostly with his departure from Houston. His requests for a new contract, one that Hopkins declined to get into last week and said he was leaving it up to his agent, was an important part of him getting traded.
Hopkins told SI "that asking for a little raise would lead to the outcome that I got, which is the outcome that I wanted."
The little raise is probably a matter of interpretation -- the article says Hopkins (not surprisingly) is looking for a contract similar to Julio Jones, Hopkins' L.A. workout partner when the trade happened. Jones makes an average of $22 million. Amari Cooper got a deal at $20 million per season, and Hopkins is certainly considered better than Cooper. But Hopkins, with a scheduled salary of $12.5M this season, is under contract three more years, so that figures to play a role.
The article also contains this line (although it is not a quote from Hopkins): "(H)e's not demanding a new contract, even though both sides are working toward one that might make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL."
Hopkins addressed some other criticisms leveled after the trade. In terms of not practicing, Hopkins said that came from a 2018 year when he had injuries and was protecting himself to play in games. Hopkins had his best statistical season. "No evidence," Hopkins said. "Go back and check the practice film."
It's also noted that while Hopkins' stats dipped last year, it didn't help that the Texans' top two other wideouts -- Kenny Stills and Will Fuller -- both missed a lot of time because of injury, meaning defenses could focus on Hopkins. The wide receiver, like he did last week when asked about it locally, clearly has high hopes in an offense led by Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray.
"Obviously, the game is changing," Hopkins said. "The Chiefs won the Super Bowl with the kind of offense we have."
