The Houston Texans will not be without wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins moving forward in training camp.
The star receiver reportedly ended his one-day holdout on Sunday.
After a one-day holdout, DeAndre Hopkins is returning to Texans, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 31, 2016
By refusing to report to the start of training camp, Hopkins was sending a message that he’s not terribly happy about his current contract situation.
The 24-year-old wide receiver is set to earn just $2.4 million in 2016, the second-to-final year of his rookie deal.
Needless to say, Hopkins has a right to be a little upset here. The Pro Bowl receiver is coming off a 2015 campaign that saw him record 111 receptions for 1,521 yards and 11 scores. He enters the 2016 season as the 55th highest-paid receiver in the game, immediately behind teammate Cecil Shorts III.
Though, we’re not exactly sure what the one-day holdout was all about. If Hopkins was intent on getting a long-term deal worked out, common logic suggests that he’d hold out for longer than a single day.
Maybe this was just Hopkins putting the Texans’ brass on notice. He’s slated to earn nearly $8 million in 2017, a number that would still undervalue the star receiver from a financial perspective.
If something isn’t agreed to between now and next spring, it’s likely Hopkins could use this mini holdout as a way to leverage the Texans into paying up.
Either way, an odd situation seems to have come to a conclusion here. Houston will have its top offensive player in the mix this season.
That’s obviously the biggest short-term takeaway here, as the team wouldn’t have been able to defend its AFC South title without him.