By Jordan Long
DeAndre Hopkins’ free agent tour continued with a stop in New England on Thursday. After his visit, there wasn’t a deal reached. Both sides will figure out what the next steps are. Hopkins may be a Patriot this upcoming season.
New England is looking to improve on their 8-9 record. They missed the playoffs for the 2nd time in 3 years. They want to make sure they earn a playoff spot this upcoming season. New England is set at quarterback with Mac Jones. He has two wide receivers who are expected to make plays this year, JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker.
DeVante Parker is going to be the #1 wide receiver. Smith-Schuster will line up in the slot. Even so, they need another wide receiver who could take the pressure off of both of them. Hopkins can be that receiver.
Hopkins would make this offense even more dangerous. He has the speed to separate himself from the defensive backs to be open. Once he catches the football, those could go for first downs or longer. It would help the Patriots march the football down the field to score more points.
It sounds great on paper. Quarterback Mac Jones knows it would greatly improve the offense, but Hopkins may not land with the Patriots. According to ESPN.com, Jones said, “I think DeAndre is a great player. You watch his film from college all the way through the NFL, he’s done a great job. So obviously we’d love to have him, but we do have a great group of guys. I’ve been really pleased with the playmakers we have on the team; we’ve come out here and really bought into the system. We have a good group and I feel like we need to keep growing together and whoever is in that room, we’re going to try to dominate together.”
Hopkins might pass on New England. New England has around $13.215 million in cap space. Hopkins could want more money than that. The other problem with New England is they aren’t a Super Bowl contender or a top team in their division. The Buffalo Bills and Miami are better teams right now in the AFC North Division.
Hopkins will take his time. He should visit with other teams before making a final decision. Hopkins wants to win a Super Bowl.
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