What If... The Titans Sign DeAndre Hopkins?

In a trip into a possible future, what is life like for the rest of this season if the Tennessee Titans sign free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins?

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I am getting a little over the DeAndre Hopkins discourse already. It’s quickly devolved into everyone having the same takes and/or providing the same analysis. There are only so many angles to look at this situation without sounding like everyone else.

Today, I want to talk about what happens IF the Titans sign DeAndre Hopkins. Now, you may be thinking haven’t we gotten this general viewpoint of the Titans in a post-shop world everywhere? Sure, you have gotten the same type of article multiple times. The typical “What does the Titans offense look like?” article which consists of noncommittal and generalities. Not today.

Today my article is going to be something similar in topics but different in the amount of information you’re getting. In fact, I am doing something no one else is doing. I am breaking the space-time continuum. I have peaked into an alternate timeline where the DeAndre Hopkins signed with the Titans on Monday.

BREAKING NEWS (Alternate Timeline): DeAndre Hopkins signs with the Tennessee Titans

The Titans sealed the deal with a much needed free agent addition when they signed DeAndre Hopkins today. Life went quick with this because it was just announced last Wednesday he would begin his visit on Sunday. Turns out it was Sunday evening and the Titans did enough to make sure he chose them.

We aren’t entirely sure of the exact numbers and cap hits yet, and soon as we do I will write about it, but there will be some ramifications on the current roster from this trade in some form or fashion.

The question has now quickly shifted to: Now what? As in, what happens to this team as it moves forward now that it has addressed its biggest concern. A concern of their own making and one that has taken them to the middle of the offseason to truly address.

I had a conspiracy theory in an article I wrote back on Memorial Day that I will share again:

I have a conspiracy theory for you: The Titans were obviously in constant contact with the Cardinals about trading up to third overall. Now, those talks (supposedly) include some involvement of Hopkins. Assuming that is so, and Hopkins would want a new contract or the Titans want to rework it, the Titans would likely have permission to work something out with his agent.

This means the groundwork is already there. The Bills and Chiefs had substantive talks but nothing came to fruition, and the Titans wanted the Third overall pick and we all know that never happened.

My conspiracy theory: When Vrabel said at the end of the draft press conference free agency wasn’t over, he was alluding to the fact he knew Hopkins was likely going to be cut. This is his plan. Just a conspiracy theory for you.

Was this the plan all along? We may never know but it sure seems like it. So, lets get into the ripple effect of the DeAndre Hopkins signing.

Who Will Have Their Contract Status Changed?

While the Titans don’t have to mess with anyone’s contracts, there has been this lingering feeling all offseason that a contract that is already on this roster is going to be changed somehow. The Titans currently sit at $7.992m in cap space.

I am going to kind of go with some of the bigger contracts but I want to throw my top-4 scenarios that are “what’s best for the team”. Then scenarios they should not do.

Extend Kevin Byard: I tweeted about this a few days ago, and I talked about it all offseason long, but to me the best scenario for the Titans is to rework the base salary of Kevin Byard’s deal and turn those into a signing bonus while lowering the cap hit over the next two years and keeping Byard here towards the end of his career. It would theoretically look something like this:

Now that Hopkins has signed, the best move for the team (and its PR staff) is to follow that up with an announcement that they have extended Kevin Byard. Will Kevin Byard still be considered overpaid at some point in the future? Possibly, the safety market continues to trend up, but to me it is so worth it on multiple fronts that this be the corresponding move for the Titans.

Extend Denico Autry: No one ever talks about this but me. I have been a huge proponent that the Titans should extend Autry on a one year extension. Why not? Cause he’s old? Who do you think you are to say that about Autry? Mike Herndon? Gimme a break. Autry is a key piece of this team and taking his cap hit from $9,102,941 to roughly $4,634,941 seems like an easy fix to all your problems.

You don’t have to touch any contracts of players you haven’t wanted to touch all offseason and you keep a key piece of your defense another year. On top of that, if he does happen to decline you can cut him and eat his dead money in a year you have massive cap space to do so.

Will saving $4,468,000 be enough to keep DHop, sign Will Levis, and have money leftover for the regular season? Very likely. I almost put this move as the very best but the public relations bump from a Byard extension pushed it up over this one.

Extending Derrick Henry: I admittedly have been all over the map this offseason in regards to Derrick Henry. I hate investing in running backs and I know the Titans just drafted the dreamboat Tyjae Spears in the third round, but I think this would be a good and prudent move.

Extending Henry can save around $7.868m in cap space. That is more than enough but it also gives you a nice security blanket for what should be one of your young QBs when they get behind center in 2024. Henry is likely going to be a unicorn in this league and while he may never reach 2000 yards, extending Henry should at least buy you a few years of just barely over 1,000 yard seasons if he happens to decline.

Henry’s decline won’t be as drastic or sudden as other running backs before him. I think he can be a running back that accounts for 1,000 yards rushing even though it won’t be the high 1,000s over the next several seasons. This is a good PR move as well.

Restructuring Harold Landry: This is my least favorite “best for the team option” by a mile, but its better/makes more sense than the other options we will get to in a minute. I have gone on record talking about how I haven’t been a big fan of Landry’s contract. I dubbed it an overpay before it happened and when it happened. However, sometimes you have to overpay to keep a player.

I don’t like the contract because the production hasn’t been there for Landry on a consistent basis. Out of all players on this team his production is closely tied to whoever is lined up opposite him. Clowney or Dupree made Landry better when they were on the field, not the other way around. It is in the data and on the film.

I encourage you to read more about why I thought and think this contract is bad right here. However, restructuring does gain the the Titans upwards of $11m in cap space. So, if I have to restructure a bad contract making it a worse contract, at least gain a lot of money from it.

Remember, restructuring contracts that shouldn’t be restructured is how you got Kevin Byard being asked to take a payout, and Tannehill/Henry being on the trading block. This sort of stuff does have repercussions even if you think the “cap is fake”.

Now onto things that definitely shouldn’t happen and some may make some of the readers mad.