Tennessee Titans Landing DeAndre Hopkins Influenced by Odell Beckham Jr. Contract Per Report from Albert Breer
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans were lucky to land DeAndre Hopkins at this stage in the offseason and according to recent information from Sports Illustrated's Senior NFL Reporter Albert Breer, the Titans owe some of that luck to Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Breer laid out some information on the three "losers" of the Hopkins sweepstakes including the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. It was the Chiefs blurb that stood out as Breer noted that a deal between them and the Cardinals had "most of it worked out," but then the Beckham Jr. deal changed things.
Breer breaks down the full situation here:
"That brings us to the Chiefs, who I believe would’ve considered circling back. Teams involved felt Hopkins would consider taking less to go to KC or another top contender if the money didn’t get closer to what Odell Beckham Jr. got prior to camps opening. Remember, the Chiefs worked diligently on a deal in April, and had most of it worked out then (they’d talked about a deal with a $4 million base and upside to $10 million, and had worked through trade terms with Arizona), only to have Beckham’s deal (one year, $15 million) poison the well."
The Ravens structured Beckham's deal in a way that they could pay him $15 million for one season while keeping his cap hit low at $3.9 million. The Titans will likely follow something similar to that structure to work Hopkins' deal into the team's finances.
Regardless of the structure though, as Breer points out, Beckham Jr. coming off an ACL injury to end 2021 then not playing in 2022 and getting that much money changed things for Hopkins in a way that clearly benefitted the Titans. You could say it was a bit of an indirect assist from one of the Titans' primary conference rivals.
If not for the Beckham Jr. contract, Hopkins would likely be in Kansas City by now and never would have been available for the Titans to acquire this late in the offseason. The Titans deserve their credit for being in a position to do this, but at the end of the day, it was better to be lucky than good.
Beckham Jr. "poisoning the well" allowed the Titans to have a seat at the table and ultimately have the chips needed to win the hand. As the saying goes though, one man's poison is another man's champagne — or something like that.
Ironically enough, if the Hopkins signing proves fruitful, the Titans could very well see the team that assisted them this winter. Even if the Titans truly do owe the Ravens a thank you, the history between the teams certainly prevents that.
However, even if the Titans won't admit it, the Ravens' actions clearly were a helping hand in the Titans fixing their biggest need just a week before training camp. I guess sometimes the enemy of your enemy can be your friend, even if they are your enemy still.
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