Bill Belichick gives perfectly blunt response to question about DeAndre Hopkins
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is keeping it tight-lipped when it comes to the franchise’s interest in free agent receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Days after a report surfaced that the Patriots would have Hopkins in the building on a visit, Belichick took to the podium and answered all Hopkins related questions in true Belichick fashion.
“I don’t know about that,” Belichick said Monday, via Boston.com. “Talked to him, [we’re] working through it. Not sure.”
Asked a follow-up, Belichick dropped a line that shows he’s in midseason form in June.
“I think it relates more to the logistics and things like that,” Belichick said. “I’m not really a travel agent. I’m not going to say it’s going to happen here, or it’s not going to happen. There’s a lot of other stuff going on that I’m not directly involved in, so I’m not going to say anything and then you turn around and say I misled you in some way because that’s not what I’m going to do.”
Belichick is indeed not a travel agent, instead, one of the greatest football minds of all-time. The eight-time Super Bowl champion certainly knows what a winning offense looks like, and what adding Hopkins would do to any offense, let alone one which finished 26th in total offense this past season.
DeAndre Hopkins, 31, is on the free agent market after the Arizona Cardinals released him on May 26. He suited up in just nine games this past season, but was his usual productive self. Hopkins hauled in 64 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns. During his first season with the Cardinals in 2020, Hopkins recorded 115 catches with 1,407 and six scores.
Prior to his arrival in Arizona, Hopkins spent seven seasons with the Houston Texans. Hopkins had five 1,000-yard seasons in Houston and four Pro Bowl appearances. His near $31 million cap hit, however, made him expendable for the rebuilding Cardinals. Arizona will incur $22.6 million in dead cap money this season by moving on from Hopkins.
DeAndre Hopkins takes visit with AFC team
DeAndre Hopkins visited the Tennessee Titans Sunday — in need of adding talent to their barren receiving core. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Kyle Phillips are currently slated to slot behind Treylon Burks, who hauled in 33 receptions for 444 yards and a score his rookie season.
Fitting Hopkins under the salary cap could create some challenges. Tennessee has just $7.9 million in cap space, meaning the Titans will likely have to get creative to secure Hopkins.