DeAndre Hopkins Would Have Given Eagles Certainty at WR

While all teams value draft picks, they come at a risk. The former Texans receiver was a proven commodity and lessens the risk of the Eagles endn up with a lesser player

Howie Roseman is fond of saying the Eagles check in on everything and that sentiment evidently included star receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was sent from Houston to Arizona in what some have portrayed as the most lopsided deal since the Dutch East India Company sent some trinkets over to the Lenape Indians for the Island of Manhattan.

Yet the haul the Cardinals shipped to South Texas for the 27-year-old All-Pro receiver -overpriced running back David Johnson, a second-round pick and swapping fourth-rounders - was too steep for the Eagles general manger, at least according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

“The Texans did talk to the Eagles at one point about DeAndre Hopkins," said Schefter on Philadelphia-area radio station 97.5. "The Eagles decided that paying the Texans for him and then Hopkins’ contract, they believed it wasn’t worth it.

"I think the Eagles are looking at the WRs in this draft and salivating at the possibility.”

Any comparison of trade terms is a little more complicated than being let on by those in Philadelphia outraged by Roseman's belief. Most notably, the Eagles didn't have a comparable veteran Houston would have wanted to essentially offset the cap implications so it would have changed any framework.

Those pointing to Alshon Jeffery because they want him out of the NovaCare Complex likely don't understand the cap hit is actually larger for the far-lesser player in that scenario and conveniently forget that Jeffery is more than likely not even going to be healthy in September. In other words, you can't just make other teams want what you don't want.

The troubling part, however, comes from a disturbing truism in the NFL. In general, all teams around the league, including the Eagles, value draft picks too much when compared to proven veterans in their prime. 

You can look at Minnesota and Rick Spielman to understand why. The Vikings GM was lauded for his Stefon Diggs haul, which netted a first-round pick and two later-round selections for the star receiver.

Spielman also has star safety Anthony Harris on the market and his looking for a second-round pick in return, an outcome that would also be cheered by the groupthink culture that pervaded the league's business. But what are the percentages Spielman finds similar players to replace Diggs and Harris, who ironically were a fifth-round pick and an UDFA respectively, with his haul?

And isn't the goal here to get players and develop them into stars?

The cost-effective narrative in the NFL is out of control when you consider how malleable the salary cap is.

Hopkins is arguably the best receiver in the entire NFL and is still in his prime. Yes, that comes at a premium cost both in salary and assets to acquire him but "salivating at the possibility" of the unknown is more likely to leave you with the next Nelson Agholor than the next DeAndre Hopkins.

John McMullen covers the Eagles for SI.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen