Hopkins Headed to Tennessee

[sambam94]

It's a IBWT defense mechanism. You should be accustomed to it by now.

Here's the truth... Hopkins is top 10 WR in the NFL and at no point in his career has he remotely shown otherwise. It's a great signing for the Titans. It would have been a great (and much needed) signing for the Patriots. We didn't close the deal.

people dissing Hopkins haven't watched him enough obviously. The guy is a stud, catches anything in his area. Huge miss by Bill

 

[RIpats88]

It's a IBWT defense mechanism. You should be accustomed to it by now.

Here's the truth... Hopkins is top 10 WR in the NFL and at no point in his career has he remotely shown otherwise. It's a great signing for the Titans. It would have been a great (and much needed) signing for the Patriots. We didn't close the deal.

its pretty crazy to keep hearing the same arguments of "hes washed up!" when the guy put up 700 yards in 9 games last year. meanwhile Jakobi Meyers put up 800 in a full season as our #1. If thats washed up, what are our receivers? or my favorite "Its a huge risk!" yes, its a big risk giving a 2 year deal you can get out of to a wide receiver...but it wasn't a huge risk to give a 4 year $50million deal to jonnu smith who only ever averaged 300-500yards a season before....

and even then at the end of the day we were able to get out of that bad contract. so its NOT a 'huge risk"

it's just the same old mentality from Bill. doesn't care about offense and will cheap out on that side. fans will defend it, acting like we can win playing 70's football in today's offense. Then act surprised when the Dolphins/Bills/Jets all end up better than us or our offense cant move against a real defense.

 

[1960Pats]

All this talk about being cheap confuses me. Do any of you know what the pats offered?
Do any of you have a physic link with Hopkins and knew what he wanted?

If it comes out that the pats offered way less then you can have that discussion. But to just assume is irresponsible

Sure. The Pats offered more than the Titans but Hopkins didn't want it.

 

[RIpats88]

people dissing Hopkins haven't watched him enough obviously. The guy is a stud, catches anything in his area. Huge miss by Bill

And how many of those guys can you get for $13million? most are going for $20million+ (granted they are younger but still we have no chance at one currently)

 

[sambam94]

Why would he be our top receiver? He hasn't done a thing for 2 years and at this point in his career, he's a name living on outdated glory and on the wrong side of 30. He may well rekindle his form and good luck to him and the Titans but not signing him isn't bothering me.

what are you talking about?

 

[Patsfan1958]

I'm a little less enthusiastic about Vrabel's induction into the Patriots Hall Of Fame this fall now.

 

[crawhammer]

people dissing Hopkins haven't watched him enough obviously. The guy is a stud, catches anything in his area. Huge miss by Bill

From 2020 but check out this beauty with 2 seconds left in the game...

 

[patsinthesnow]

Despite having gronk, edelman & amendola bill signed hogan & traded for bennett as secondary pass catchers in 2016. They won a SB and scored 30+ PPG in the playoffs with gronk on IR.

Despite having gronk, edelman, amendola & mitchell bill traded a first round pick for cooks in 2017. They went to a SB & tom passed for 500+ yards with edelman on IR.

The notion the pats didn’t prioritize weapons during their superbowl runs is not true. There isn’t one player from 2019-present who would be a top two receiving option on the 2007-2018 pats.

 

[crawhammer]

I'm a little less enthusiastic about Vrabel's induction into the Patriots Hall Of Fame this fall now.

True. And not for nothing but it's one of the reasons why I opposed inducing Vrabel... he's an active head coach of another franchise... and the Patriots are honoring him in the middle of a season?... no thank you.

 

[1960Pats]

Bill cheaps out again, loses a great WR for a few million. Those counting on Thornton crack me up. That dude with those skinny frail limbs will not last long in this league.

Since Thornton had the benefit of Bill's coaching for a whole season he'll probably be the second coming of Randy Moss this year.

 

[1960Pats]

I'm a little less enthusiastic about Vrabel's induction into the Patriots Hall Of Fame this fall now.

He belongs there much more than Tuna Crap.

 

[Pape]

Saw the news the other day... Was away for the weekend, missed most of the instant reaction...

Did I want Hopkins? Sure... He's familiar with BoB would have been a good fit... He's only 31 and does have a few good seasons left... So it stung a bit that he went with Tennessee...

I do want to see what we offered him... Eventually that info will leak... If we offered him a deal that was competitive to what Tennessee did, I think we can hazard a few guesses, assuming the money was similar -

Hopkins wasn't thrilled to reunite with BoB

that he views tannehill as a better option at QB than Mac...

Tennessee has a weaker wr room than New England... if I read pfr correctly they didn't have a single receiver top 600 yards ... Yikes ... He immediately becomes the number 1 option there... Better for him...

while I think Hopkins would have been great here, he's not randy moss redux... So that lessens the sting a bit for me...

To be honest I wish BB didn't let Meyers walk... I'd rather still have him on the roster than most of the guys we got... But we have neither, and no one else is coming... Gut check time for our 2023 wr corps... They will make or break this offense ...

 

[Sicilian]

My brain added an apostrophe in there for some reason, so I read it as "Love ya, Butterf*cking", and that's my new favorite insult.

 

[Sicilian]

On D-Hop, I think my thoughts have been mirrored enough in this thread, but my general reaction:

1) I've maintained that I wanted him on the team, because they're better with him than without him. BUT, if he was the Hopkins everyone still had in their minds, more than 2 teams would have been interested in him. He's still good, but IMO not worth overextending for at this stage.

2) While I think it is important to surround a young QB with top talent, the most important thing they need to do this year (for the team moving forward, not for BB or anyone individually) is find out if Mac is a guy you extend beyond his rookie deal. I think the team has enough to do that (veteran offensive coaching staff, good enough talent). The one thing that could submarine it through no fault of Mac's is OT, but assuming they get adequate play from that (still a question, I know), we'll know whether Mac is "the guy" by season's end. If he's not, you reset the clock and D-Hop isn't going to matter anyway. If he is, you can make a run at a big top WR next year, which brings me to:

3) I've seen a few posts saying there's no one to spend the money on next year, and I think that's a bit premature. No one thought Tyreek Hill would be available last year before he got traded to Miami. No one thought Hopkins was going to get flat out released this offseason. There's always going to be some surprise players available at most positions, and if Mac truly is their franchise QB going forward, they will have opportunities to add a significant piece to the offense.

Overall, I'm disappointed, I thought it would be fun to have him here. But I'm fine moving on now.

 

[slash83]

If Mac has a breakout year they'll need to pay him. They might pust some 2024 cap space to 2025. Just depends.

Dug should get paid.

Big Mike should as well

If Uche is tears it up again he'll need to get paid

Now outside the org Tee Higgins is a guy you throw money at.

I’d be pleasantly shocked if Mac breaks out, besides giving him a legitimate OC the tackle and WR position are both major question marks, which is terrible news when you’re hoping your young QB takes the next major step in his development.

 

[Triumph]

OL is a bigger need than another WR. Need an OT.

What happens when the other defense takes Hopkins away? What do you think that the Pats defense will do to Hopkins when NE plays Tenn?

Furthermore, the Pats need to get younger at WR with some promising WRs in the pipeline.

 

[Since1960]

Since Thornton had the benefit of Bill's coaching for a whole season he'll probably be the second coming of Randy Moss this year.

Please, are we actually counting on Thornton being our answer for missing out on Hopkins? Even with arguably the best coach “evah”, in 7 of his 12 games played last year he caught ONE pass and was a factor in ONE game! Until a massive improvement takes place we’ve got a “One Catch Wonder” on our hands. Hoping for the best but so far “it is what it is”….

 

[ausbacker]

what are you talking about?

It's fairly simple: Hopkins hasn't done anything for a few years, he's over 30 and living on past reputation meaning I don't believe he would have automatically become our #1 receiver straight out of the gate. Clear enough?

 

[50-yard-line]

I don't think that's correct. I know for a fact that if you live in Massachusetts and you work out of state, you pay full Massachusetts income taxes. I don't see why it would be any different for athletes whose employment is based in Massachusetts.

Because it is. Athletes file in states across the country, based on games played there.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I’d be pleasantly shocked if Mac breaks out,

Agree. If he gives them a notch above what he did as a rookie and manages games so he doesn't lose them it will have met my expectations.

Is that worth $30-$35m in cap space a year? No.

besides giving him a legitimate OC the tackle and WR position are both major question marks, which is terrible news when you’re hoping your young QB takes the next major step in his development.

No question.