The Houston Texans traded star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for pennies on the dollar last month in a move that raised eyebrows across the NFL landscape.
Not long after the deal was made, rumors surfaced that Hopkins did not exactly have a great relationship with Texans head coach Bill O'Brien, which led to O'Brien sending him packing.
Not surprisingly, people around the league think Houston made a pretty big mistake:
“It is amazing in the NFL that some trades are so lopsided still,” said an NFL executive, according to Mike Sando of The Athletic. “The Hopkins thing was a joke. How the David Johnson contract was included in the deal just astounds me.”
The Texans landed Johnson and a second-round draft pick in the deal. Houston and Arizona also swapped fourth-round picks.
There was a time that Johnson was a Pro Bowler, which came in 2016 when he rushed for 1,239 yards and 16 touchdowns while catching 80 passes for 879 yards and four scores.
Since then, however, Johnson has been derailed by injuries and poor performance across the board.
Meanwhile, Hopkins has made four Pro Bowl appearances while earning three First-Team All-Pro selections. The 27-year-old is coming off of a 2019 campaign in which he hauled in 104 receptions for 1,165 yards while reaching the end zone seven times.
In order to soften the blow of losing Hopkins, the Texans signed Randall Cobb, who is clearly not going to come close to replacing Hopkins' production.
Houston has won four of the last five AFC South division titles, but the Texans' reign over the division may very well be coming to an end.
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