The Houston Texans absolutely shocked the football world last month, dealing Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for pennies on the dollar.
Still in his prime and as one of the most productive receivers in the NFL, the decision to trade Hopkins led to criticism of head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien. Said trade also came with a backdrop that included a less-than-stellar relationship between the two.
Hopkins is now speaking out on what went wrong in Houston. He specifically focused on his lack of a relationship with O’Brien. His comments were not subtle.
“There was no relationship,” Hopkins said, via Sports Illustrated. “Make sure you put that in there. There’s not a lot to speak about.”
That pretty much confirms what most of us believed to be true once Houston dealt Hopkins to the desert. In fact, the head coach had previously compared Hopkins’ personality to that of Aaron Hernandez. There’s no going back from that.
In addition to trading Hopkins, Houston spent a pretty penny to acquire his replacement in that of Brandin Cooks. It led to even more criticism of O’Brien.
Time will tell whether the Texans are better off without Hopkins in the mix. From a pure football standpoint, that seems highly unlikely. As it relates to the 27-year-old four-time Pro Bowler, Hopkins is happy in Arizona and will likely get a pretty big contract in the process.