Once DeAndre Hopkins heard the Houston Texans owner explain his reasoning for his trade, the receiver couldn’t help but respond in a since-deleted tweet.
After an 0-4 start to their season, the Houston Texans decided to hand head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien his walking papers on Monday. As for the reasoning for the firing, it was more to do with O’Brien’s personnel moves, with his most criticized transaction being the decision to trade star receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for running back David Johnson and two 2020 mid-round draft picks.
On Wednesday, Texans CEO Cal McNair explained the reasoning behind the Hopkins trade, claiming that the receiver was asking for a new contract and they couldn’t do so, as quarterback Deshaun Watson and left tackle Laremy Tunsil were also looking for new deals. This was the very reasoning that O’Brien gave earlier this year. Hopkins tweeted (then later deleted) a clap back at McNair, saying he never asked the Texans for a new deal but a “band-aid deal.” Oh, and he said that he’s happy to be in Arizona too!
McNair doing damage control months after the Hopkins trade
The decision was made to flip Hopkins to the Cardinals, as the team already had one of the largest payrolls in the NFL. Following the trade, the Texans gave Tunsil a three-year, $66 million contract extension, after trading their 2020 and 2021 first and second-round selections. Then, Houston signed Watson to a four-year, $160 million extension. As a result of those two signings, the Texans own a $248 million payroll for the 2020 season!
The Cardinals jumped at the opportunity to add Hopkins to their roster. They had the money to give him a pay raise mostly because the Cardinals will have starting quarterback Kyler Murray on his rookie deal for the next three years. Shortly before their regular-season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, Hopkins agreed to terms on a two-year, $54.5 million contract extension.
Through four games with the Cardinals, Hopkins leads the league with 39 receptions for 397 yards and a touchdown.
Hopkins wanted to set the record-straight regarding his exit from Houston, but decided to delete the tweet. For what it’s worth, Hopkins does appear to have it better in Arizona, as the Cardinals sit at 2-2 on the year, as opposed to the winless Texans.