Hopkins Become the Highest Paid WR in Football?

The latest Texan first rounder to get a crack at cashing in is wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who happens to be coming off perhaps the most dominant season by a receiver in team history, which is saying something considering Andre Johnson played here for 12 seasons.

Well, in the pantheon of Texans’ receiving seasons, even though Johnson had three seasons with more yards and two with more catches, I would put Hopkins’ 2015 season at the top of every season in franchise history for two reasons: 1) Hopkins had 11 receiving touchdowns, a franchise record, and 2) Hopkins did it with four different starting quarterbacks, while Johnson’s best seasons generally had the good version of Matt Schaub on a week-in, week-out basis.

** ODELL BECKHAM, JR.: 4 years/$10.41M (All guaranteed), FA after 2018 season.

ANTONIO BROWN: 5 years/$41.96M ($8.5M guaranteed), FA after 2017 season.

The three most prominent receivers to sign deals this offseason all received extensions in the same range of years, total money, and guaranteed money as each other: DOUG BALDWIN: 4 years/$46M ($24.25M guaranteed), FA after 2020 season.

KEENAN ALLEN: 4 years/$45M ($20.66M guaranteed), FA after 2020 season.

ALLEN HURNS: 4 years/$40.65M ($20M guaranteed), FA after 2020 season.

PREDICTION: Hopkins signs a five year, $78 million deal ($47.5 million guaranteed) during the final week of training camp.

The Texans have $12 million in cap space, so year one will have a $20-25 million signing bonus to spread a chunk of the cap hit out over all five years of the extension, and keep year one’s cap hit reasonably under $12 million.