Former Dolphins GM Likes Hopkins-to-Miami Fit
The De'Andre Hopkins watch is on in full swing, and at least one former NFL executive happens to think the Miami Dolphins make a lot of sense as a destination for the three-time All-Pro wide receiver.
Longtime GM Randy Mueller, whose career included a stint with the Dolphins, explained in The Athletic on Thursday why he believes that Miami, as well as the Detroit Lions, would make a lot of sense for Hopkins, starting with the cap space the team will get on this day when Byron Jones' $13.6 million cap hit comes off the books.
"The game-breaking speed the Dolphins already possess would make Miami a good place for Hopkins to work the underneath stuff," Mueller wrote. "Wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill have rare explosiveness that would almost guarantee a player of Hopkins’ skills to draw single coverage most of the time. And we all know how quarterback Tua Tagovailoa likes to work the middle of the field with both play action and RPO designs to lessen the distance of his throws from the pocket."
Mueller went to describe how Hopkins could fill a role similar to what tight end Mike Gesicki filled before he left for the New England Patriots this offseason.
Along with his three All-Pro nods, Hopkins has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times, so he's clearly a marquee player and his addition will be seen as potentially impactful wherever he lands.
The teams favored to land Hopkins, according to odds from Draft Kings, start with the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.
Here's the interesting part: Draft Kings gave odds to 12 teams ... and the Dolphins were not one of them.
WHY HOPKINS DOES AND DOESN'T MAKE SENSE FOR MIAMI
To be sure, adding somebody like Hopkins potentially could make an already potent passing game even better, and Mueller's point about Hopkins being to work the underneath with Hill and Waddle drawing so much attention outside because of their speed certainly is valid.
But it says here there are a lot more reasons why Hopkins coming to the Dolphins doesn't make sense.
We can start with the financial considerations.
Yes, the Dolphins will have more cap space after Jones' contract is off the books, but they still have their draft class to sign (albeit a small one) and more importantly some contract extensions to consider, including key players like Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler, Connor Williams and Robert Hunt.
That also has to be combined with how much it would cost to sign Hopkins, particularly after the Baltimore Ravens gave Odell Beckham Jr. a fully guaranteed $15 million one-year deal.
Can the Dolphins justify spending anywhere near that kind of money when they already have two star wide receivers? Would Hopkins really be that much of an upgrade over Braxton Berrios and/or Robbie Chosen as the third wide receiver option to justify a big financial investment?
And would Hopkins also be willing to accept a lesser role on offense than what he's been accustomed to because he's not better than Hill or Waddle at this stage of his career.
Now, if this was 2019 De'Andre Hopkins, it would be a different story. But Hopkins averaged a modest 53 catches the past two seasons and missed a combined 15 games while playing on an admittedly mediocre Arizona Cardinals team.
Hopkins will turn 31 next week and certainly it's possible he's got at least one very productive year left, but there's no guarantee and the Dolphins simply aren't in that kind of dire need offensively that they need to get him.
In fact, it says here maybe the best argument for indeed going after Hopkins is to keep him away from the Bills just in case he does have one big season left in him.
But that's also not reason enough for Miami to sign him.
