The Texans rocked the Houston sports scene on Monday when they announced the trade of three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals.
“Veritatem dies aperit,” as the Romans use to say, translated to “time discloses the truth.” Over the days that unfolded, reports surfaced that coach and general manager Bill O’Brien didn’t like Hopkins’ influence on the locker room, and that Hopkins was threatening to hold out if his contract wasn’t reworked to reflect his talent level as one of the NFL’s best receivers.
In dealing Hopkins to the Cardinals for running back David Johnson and swapping draft selections, was O’Brien borrowing a page from Bill Belichick’s playbook? After all, O’Brien spent five seasons with the New England Patriots from 2007-11.
Winning power struggles is one of the first courses of action when a Belichick disciple gets to a new club. When Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels got to Denver in 2009, his only coaching gig to date, he wanted to bring in Matt Cassel and get rid of Jay Cutler. McDaniels also managed to alienate Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall in the process. McDaniels was fired midway through his second season.
O’Brien hasn’t been as overt. In 2014, when he took over as coach, the Texans were coming off of a 2-14 season. Slowly, with AFC South titles, a playoff win over the Oakland Raiders, O’Brien showed to the McNair family that his way produces results.
Since consolidating power with the ouster of general managers Rick Smith and Brian Gaine, and taking over the reins himself, O’Brien has dealt with players who could have challenged his power in edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney and Hopkins with the most recent transaction the riskiest as it has the potential to yield the most negative returns.
Fun fact: among all Belichick assistants who took NFL coaching gigs, O’Brien is the most successful with a 2-4 playoff record, four division titles, and five winning seasons.
