DeAndre Hopkins Rumors: Inside Patriots' 'Cautious Approach' over Contract with WR

Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins decided to sign with the Tennessee Titans after the New England Patriots took a "cautious approach" to acquiring him by tying their contract offer to incentives, ESPN's Mike Reiss reported.

"For Hopkins, too much of the Patriots' offer was tied to incentives," Reiss wrote. "And for the Patriots, the 'what if' of how Hopkins would fit into their program—and what it would look like if those incentives weren't close to being reached—contributed to their more cautious approach."

Hopkins will receive a base salary of $12 million with the Titans in 2023 and could make an additional $3 million with incentives, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said the Patriots were willing to match that maximum offer of $15 million next season, but with a "far higher percentage of that total tied to incentives."

The deal the Patriots proposed "was structured a little like the (Kansas City) Chiefs' offer going back to before the draft," Breer said on NBC Sports Boston's Sports Sunday.

Kansas City's offer tied more than half of Hopkins' maximum salary to incentives, according to Breer.

"The Chiefs' offer at the time was a $4 million base with a chance to make up to $10 (million)," Breer said. "So, (the Patriots) were willing to give him the max that the Titans offered, but they were going to make it much harder for him to get there."

The Patriots have over $15 million in cap space, per Over the Cap, and likely could have afforded to offer Hopkins more guaranteed salary.

However, after four consecutive seasons with over 1,100 receiving yards for the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals, Hopkins has ended up well below the quadruple-digit mark for the last two years after missing 15 games due to knee problems and a PED suspension.

The Patriots' hesitation to guarantee a higher salary for Hopkins seems to indicate they are concerned this history could prevent him from returning to Pro Bowl form.

The wide receiver thinks otherwise. He wrote on Threads earlier this month that he would retire from the NFL "when I'm not a 1k-yard receiver."

"I was on pace for 1,400 yards last year—one significant injury in 11 years," Hopkins wrote. "I might be playing till I'm 37 the way I feel."

Hopkins will need to make 95 catches for 1,050 yards and 10 touchdowns to receive his full $15 million from the Titans next season, according to Rapoport.