Report: Bill O'Brien wouldn't be opposed to working with DeAndre Hopkins in New England
FOXBORO -- The roadblocks for the Patriots to add DeAndre Hopkins continue to dissipate.
First, it was both Hopkins' compensation and the draft capital that it would have cost to trade for the receiver. While the compensation will likely remain high after Hopkins' release from the Arizona Cardinals a few weeks ago, at least it won't cost any team a draft pick to add the 5-time Pro Bowler to its roster.
But for the Patriots, there was an interesting wrinkle after they added Bill O'Brien to the coaching staff. O'Brien and Hopkins didn't exactly get along when they were both in Houston, and O'Brien was the one who traded Hopkins to the Cardinals when he was head coach of the Texans.
Hopkins said during the offseason that he didn't have a relationship with O'Brien, which painted a frosty picture of how things went between the two after their six years together in Houston. But according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, O'Brien wouldn't mind working with Hopkins again.
The new Patriots offensive coordinator "would be plenty on board with, not against, signing Hopkins," Breer wrote on Monday. The Patriots don't seem to have much competition to sign Hopkins, either, though the Browns and Ravens are teams to monitor, according to Breer.
New England has a decent chunk of change to offer Hopkins, who is still looking for a fairly large payday as he enters his 11th NFL season. The Pats have just over $14 million in cap space available, and could potentially outbid other suitors for Hopkins.
He would be a nice boost to the New England offense, which currently touts JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker as Mac Jones' top targets. Hopkins, 31, hasn't played a full season in three years, but has still been productive when he's been on the field. He finished the 2022 season with 64 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns, missing the first six weeks due to a suspension for violating the league's performance enhancing drug policy.
Now, the big question is whether or not Hopkins would want to play for O'Brien again. With OTAs underway and training camp just around the corner, he may not have much of a choice unless he's willing to take a massive paycut.
