The Houston Texans coughing up star wideout DeAndre Hopkins in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals registered as one of the most shocking developments of free agency.
And somehow the Cincinnati Bengals have come up in all the talk.
According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Bengals were one of a few teams in discussions with the Texans about Hopkins:
“The Texans had previously made Hopkins available for a trade and had been actively attempting to deal him since the end of the season, when the team communicated privately it could move on from the South Carolina native. The Texans also held discussions about Hopkins with the Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals and Patriots, according to sources.”
It’s shocking to see the Bengals come up in this at all. It’s just as shocking to see the suddenly-aggressive team mentioned alongside usual big players like Philadelphia and New England.
Does this have merit? Why not? The Texans ended up trading one of the game’s best receivers for a fading running back (David Johnson), a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick in 2021.
Hopkins might want a new contract on top of it all. No biggie — he’s 27, elite, has missed just two games since 2013 and is the owner of three straight 1,100-plus yard seasons with 31 touchdowns over that span alone. He’s the perfect proven No. 1 wideout to help along a guy like Joe Burrow.
Clearly the talks, no matter how brief, didn’t work out. Names like Joe Mixon and A.J. Green probably came up. Logically, those are items the Texans would probably ask about in this hypothetical.
Onlookers probably shouldn’t consider this a big loss from a Bengals perspective. Alongside the major splashes in free agency, this might just be more proof major changes continue to happen inside Paul Brown Stadium.
