Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans DeAndre Hopkins Contract Details, Rebutting Hopkins Hate & Calling George Fant for RT

Episode Date: July 17, 2023

The Tennessee Titans agreed to a deal with DeAndre Hopkins and now some of the finer contract details are coming out. Tyler goes over Hopkins incentive based pay and how he can get the extra money. Next, most of the reaction to the Hopkins move has been positive, but there has been some unfounded criticisms as well. Tyler takes a second to go over some of the worst reactions. Finally, free agent offensive lineman George Fant expressed interest in signing with the Titans if they would only give him a call...Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Tennessee Titans contract with wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is full of potential incentives. I'll tell you how much extra money Hopkins can make, what he's got to do on the football field to make it, and why the Titans should be praying they get to pay it to him on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

DeAndre Hopkins' contract is a masterpiece by Ran Carthon. Not only did they get Hopkins for a great rate, but his contract is full of potential incentives where Hopkins could earn even more money than the initial deal if he hits certain statistics on the football field. It's a great setup for the Titans. We're going to dive into what those incentives are, how Hopkins can make that extra money,

and of course, why the Titans are hoping they can pay it to him. We'll also respond to some of the hate that the DeAndre Hopkins signing has gotten, and some of it is just absolutely ridiculous. Also, George Fant telling the Tennessee Titans to give him a call on Twitter. We're going to talk about that and why that move makes sense. Before we get into all of it, though, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day.

Remember, Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content on all apps, all year long, and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network network where it's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there listening to the show Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you. Let me know who you are down below in the comments and throw a thumbs up on the video.

If you're watching right now, the show is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, I want to talk about the DeAndre Hopkins contract in general, but mostly dive into how the incentive-based pay is going to work for Hopkins. First and foremost, as a refresher, we talked about it yesterday. My everydayers will remember

our instant reaction podcast to the DeAndre Hopkins news. The contract details came out pretty quickly. It's going to be a two-year deal worth $26 million, but there is potential for the money to go up to $32 million because Hopkins can earn an extra $3 million in each season. So that's a pretty good rate for Hopkins. There are some people out there, and we'll talk about this in just a moment, saying that the Titans overpaid. But as I

mentioned yesterday, when you stack it up to where DeAndre Hopkins' average annual value of $13 million is, he's the 23rd highest paid wide receiver in the NFL. The Titans have a chance to get top 10 wide receiver play for 23rd wide receiver money. Funny, speaking of top 10 wide receivers, the Madden ratings for wide receivers came out on Monday. I'm throwing those up right now. The top 10, DeAndre Hopkins, a 93 overall. DeAndre Hopkins, a 93 overall. Look at number nine there. A.J. Brown, a 91 overall. So you're telling me that the Tennessee Titans paid half the money that A.J. Brown got per year but got a better player?

I'm not so sure about that one, man. But either way, it highlights just how great of a value this contract is. But I bring up where Hopkins lands in terms of, you know, how highly he's paid amongst wide receivers. Because even if DeAndre Hopkins hits his incentives, he is still going to be an incredible value. And if he hits the highest part of his incentives, he's going to be even more of a value than we can even imagine. So throwing those incentives up right now, basically Hopkins has a four-step system for incentives in three different categories. So he gets paid $250,000 extra as the first step,

$500,000 extra as the second step, $750,000 as the third step. And then he can make a million extra dollars if he gets to the fourth step. So there are four steps, 250, 500, 750, 1 million. And again, three different categories, catches, yards, and touchdowns. So his production out on the field. So at the lowest step for catches, 65 catches, 250K, 75 catches, 500K, 85 catches, 750K, and then if he gets 95 catches, Hopkins will earn an extra million dollars. It's the same thing with yards, 750 at step one, 850 at step two, 950 at step three. If Hopkins gets 1,050 receiving yards,

he is going to get an extra million dollars. And then touchdowns, same steps, four touchdowns, six touchdowns, eight touchdowns, 10 touchdowns. We'll get him $1 million. eight touchdowns, ten touchdowns, we'll get him $1 million. So if Hopkins gets 95 catches for 1,050 yards and ten touchdowns, he is going to get that extra $3 million. And my Lord, he will be worth it.

That's why I said the Titans are praying, wishing, hoping, praying that they have to pay DeAndre Hopkins that max money, that $16 million. And even if they do, even if they do, $16 million a season. You know who makes more money than $16 million a season? Hunter Renfro. Christian Kirk. Who had a pretty good season last year, no doubt. Deontay Johnson. Mike Williams.

I mean, if you're telling me that DeAndre Hopkins had 10 touchdowns, 10,050 yards and 95 catches, and he got paid less than Hunter Renfro, I mean, I may cry actual tears, but that's why it is so insane that I saw people saying that the Titans overpaid, that I saw criticism of this move

considering the Titans overpaid. That I saw criticism of this move considering the Titans situation and even the max amount of production and money that the Titans could pay for Hopkins. There is no way that this is an overpay. There should be no negative pushback to this move. Even if it doesn't work out, the Titans are well positioned

to be perfectly fine going forward. So that's why I want to dive into some of the pushback, some of the hate that we saw come along with the Hopkins move. Mostly optimistic, mostly positive reaction. But there was some hate out there, and I just think some of it is not even rooted in the realities that could be the issues for the Titans there. Some of the hate is just completely outlandish.

Doesn't make a lot of sense. So I want to just talk about some of the things that we saw over the last 24 hours in reaction to that Hopkins move. Before we get into it, though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Take your first swing at betting MLB on FanDuel and you're going to get 10 times your first bet amount

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America's number one sportsbook. So sign up today. Visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn to get up to $200 in bonus bets. That's FanDuel.com slash LockedOn FanDuel. Official partner of Major League Baseball. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've been talking about DeAndre Hopkins,

some of the contract details that have come out, looking at the incentive structure that he has in his deal. The Titans got to be hoping and wishing and praying that they pay Hopkins that extra money because if he gets 3 million extra dollars per season, that means that he is an all pro level wide receiver for the Titans and boy,

that is exactly what they need, which is why it's so surprising the amount of hate that I saw for this move that the Titans have made. I want to talk about some of the things that I saw before we get into it. Do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day.

Remember, Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content on all apps all year long and always for free. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Let me know down below, are there any of you guys who think the Titans overpaid for DeAndre Hopkins? Anybody out there at all? No? No one? That's what I figured because it is a crazy thing to say at the end of the day.

But I want to talk about a little bit of hate for Hopkins from a former NFL executive. And it's Michael Lombardi. He does the GM Shuffle podcast. But he went on his podcast recently and said, quote, by being so reticent about not bringing A.J. Brown back at 25 years old,

now they have signed a 31-year-old who's kind of towards the end of his career who doesn't have the same burst and big playability that Brown had. And it really looks like it solved the problem, but to me, it just amplifies the situation. When you don't do something and you think you have the solution, you make the problem worse. So, and not to mention,

Lombardi compared the Titans to the Three Stooges in the tweet that he put out to release this awful take on the world. So you're telling me that by signing DeAndre Hopkins to a deal that makes him paid less money than Cortland Sutton, Allen Robinson

and Hunter Renfro that the Titans have made their wide receiver situation worse huh what okay maybe it's not wide receiver situation. The Titans have made their team worse. Listen, here's the reality.

And I ended up tweeting this out. And I won't say the entire tweet because I won't lie to you. I used the F-bomb. All right? Because it frustrates me so much to have this conversation over and over and over and over again. You guys know I'm not going to be someone on here cussing all the

time, but I'll read the edited version. We got to stop, or I'll give you a paraphrased version. We have to stop judging the Titans based on trading A.J. Brown. The Titans traded A.J. Brown. The Titans traded A.J. Brown.

That was a bad decision. If they could get in the time machine and go back and not do that, I guarantee that's what they would do. But saying that the Titans made their situation worse by adding DeAndre Hopkins solely because they didn't pay A.J. Brown makes zero sense. This is a different general manager entirely.

We're going to be into the second season the Titans have played without having A.J. Brown on the team when this year starts. You cannot look and say, hey, we shouldn't add DeAndre Hopkins because we should have kept A.J. Brown. There are other moves that maybe you look at that and say that like some of the trades

that some people were thinking about last year, but this is an entirely new team with a brand new financial situation because of the moves that they made this offseason. The Titans are going to have $80 to $100 million in cap space over the next two years. They are in a perfect position to take this kind of risk. And the risk is minimal anyway because like I said,

Hopkins is getting paid less than guys like Hunter Renfro and Alan Robinson. How is this any kind of risk? How is this making the problem worse in any way? It doesn't make any sense. It makes zero sense. And the co-host of the show, and I'm blanking on the name

because it wasn't on the screen. It's not a podcast I listen to all the time, but he even said like, AJ Brown got twice as much money. He got $100 million. How is that comparable to giving $30 million to Hopkins? And Lombardi had some terrible answer about cash flow and all this, but at the end of the day, it doesn't make any sense.

This was the perfect move for the Titans to make and with minimal future financial risk. So I don't see how you can look at what the Titans did here with Hopkins and say that it made the situation worse for the Titans from any perspective or any vantage point. Not only that, but I want to dive into another reaction here. It comes from Warren Sharpe. And Sharpe, Warren Sharpe is a good football analyst.

He has a lot of very intelligent commentary. But sometimes when he talks about the Titans, he just misses the mark, in my opinion. I agree with the beginning of what he's saying here. He gets off to a great start. And he basically is agreeing with what I was just saying. Don't understand the Titans should have just signed A.J. Brown talk. Hopkins' deal is for $26 million for two years.

Brown is $400 million and four times that. Hopkins is only making wide receiver 23 money. Warren Sharpe is all on top of it right there. That's basically what I just said. But then he says this, no doubt Brown is much better, but Tennessee was dumb to pay Henry and Tannehill so they couldn't pay Brown.

Not hard. Well, apparently it is hard to understand, Warren, because that is incredibly wrong. People saying to me, the Titans couldn't pay Henry and Tannehill and pay A.J. Brown. That is wrong. The owner has said that is wrong. She was willing to pay the money for A.J. Brown, and then people will say, well, they couldn't have paid Jeffrey Simmons. that is wrong. She was willing to pay the money for A.J. Brown. And then people will say, well, they couldn't have paid Jeffrey Simmons. That is wrong again. The Titans missed on their first round picks in 2020 and 2021. Missed on their second round pick in 2021 most likely.

Are not going to pay Christian Fulton their second round pick in 2020. They didn't pay Rashawn Evans as their first round pick in 2020. They didn't pay Rashawn Evans as their first round pick in 2018. The Titans haven't shelled out the big guaranteed dollars to players like teams that are good normally have. The Titans could have paid Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, A.J. Brown, and Jeffrey Simmons and Harold Landry all at the same time. If there was any financial mistake the Titans made recently, at the same time. If there was any financial mistake the Titans made recently, it was paying Bud Dupree. So, I'm just tired of all these bad arguments that the Titans didn't have the money to do this, so it led to this. You know why A.J. Brown isn't a Titan? Because

John Robinson messed up. John Robinson, personally, Mike Vrabel said, as long as I'm the coach, we won't, personally, Mike Vrabel said, as long as I'm the coach, we won't trade him. Mike Vrabel was pissed in the draft room after the Titans traded him. How can it not be clear and obvious to everyone that that was John Robinson making a mistake?

One guy making a huge mistake. They had the money to pay him, and Robinson, for whatever reason, just didn't think that A.J. Brown was worth that money. A.J. Brown and other sources have come out and said the Titans were offering $20 million. $22 million is what A.J. Brown said he asked for. Even if he's lying and he asked for $24, the Titans should have paid it.

The Eagles paid $25 million for A.J. Brown. They should have. The Titans could have paid that money and I would have been happy. So, all of this is to say, using the A.J. Brown situation and one man's fatal mistake to criticize these moves that the Titans are making now, which is an absolute bargain signing for DeAndre Hopkins, it makes zero sense.

Some of the commentary makes zero sense. Not only that, I saw somebody tweet out, DeAndre Hopkins really picked Ryan Tannehill over Mac Jones. Well, duh. Well, duh. You know, what are we talking about here?

And of course, now everybody wants to say that DeAndre Hopkins is washed, but if you would have signed with Kansas City or Buffalo, we know what the reaction would have been there. So it's just bad faith arguments from a lot of people. Mike Lombardi himself has ties to the Patriots organization, so maybe some home cooking there.

I just, some of these, I guess this is why shows like the Locked On Network, like Locked On Titans, why national, or why localized entertainment and content is doing so well. Because these national takes from these national sources can just be so off the mark. It's, you know, we shouldn't care, but at the end of the day, it's just incredibly frustrating to see the Titans situation

so misrepresented on a national stage. But I guess that's why I'm here to clear the air. But we got to talk about George Fant and what he said on Twitter because he's waiting for the Titans to call. And as I've been saying for a few weeks now, the Titans should call. So we're going to talk about that in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, talking about DeAndre Hopkins' contract, the incentives involved, what he has to do to hit those,

went over the statistics earlier and why that would be the best case scenario for the Titans. Quite honestly, if they had to pay Hopkins that extra money, that would just be perfect. Also talked about some of the pushback that this DeAndre Hopkins signing has gotten from some people in the national media, some just confused narratives as well. But now I want to talk about George Fant because now that the Titans wide receiver situation has a little bit of resolution to it, it's not a five alarm fire.

I think all of us feel pretty comfortable with the wide receiver situation going into next year now, right? Seems fair to say. Let me know down below in the comments if you disagree with me there and you're not comfortable with the wide receiver situation. I certainly am. Now the biggest issue for the Titans turns to the offensive line. And the suspension of Nicholas Petit Ferrer makes it even more of a concern

than it already was. There was a lot of uncertainty with the offensive line. Whether you want to admit it or not, Andre Dillard, Brunskill, NPF going in the second year, Aaron Brewer at center, tons of question marks there, not a lot of answers. If the only real answer you have is that your rookie should be reliable, that's a lot of uncertainty. I know some people don't want to admit that with the O-line, but that's how I see it. So now that NPF is suspended, there's even more uncertainty. And when I did the positional preview series

and we talked about offensive tackles a couple weeks ago, I just talked about how the Titans do not have any sort of depth at the position. And they're one bad thing away, whether it be an injury or something else from having a real issue on their hands. And look what happened. Something happened. It wasn't an injury, but something happened. And now that depth is non-existent. Okay. There is nobody else. And a shout out to my coworker at sports illustratedrated, Greg Arias. The other day he wrote an article saying that the Titans shouldn't have to shuffle three players on their offensive line to fix one spot.

And I agree. And the best way to avoid that is to get free agent help. And I think George Fant makes the most sense. And as a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, George Fant is ready for the call. Shout out to Brandon Kinsey, BKins on Twitter, but he said

to George Fant, tagged him in a tweet and said, you know, Tennessee's calling your name. George Fant replied, all they gotta do is call. Then call, Ran. Pick up the phone and call. Because Fant has starting experience. He played at a pretty high level a couple of years ago with the Jets.

He's played right tackle. He's played left tackle. And look, the other options are destroy any semblance of the offensive line that you wanted and move Skowronski to right tackle, where he didn't play in college on the right-hand side. You could do that, and then you rely on Jamarco Jones and put him in at left guard. Or you rely on Jalen Duncan as a developmental rookie.

You rely on an undrafted free agent. You try to put Jamarco Jones at right tackle. Do something like that. And I don't think that those are any answers. I would take, basically, I would take George Fant over Jamarco Jones or George Fant over Jalen Duncan, and that's the way I see the conversation. Would I rather have George Fant in the starting lineup

or Jamarco Jones or Jalen Duncan or John Ajuko? You see what I'm saying? At the end of the day, the answer for me is going to be George Fant. He's available and clearly being a free agent this late into the process, it's not like he has a ton of options. You could get him on a veteran contract, minimum. And if he doesn't play great and you think NPF is better, when NPF is off suspension, you add him in and George Fant becomes

a really solid swing tackle. You have flexibility if Dillard gets hurt, if there's any more injuries. It's just more depth on your offensive line with a better player than you currently have. There is no downside other than the money spent. But again, you're looking at a veteran minimum contract. So the Titans may need to do one restructure to have room to have fan and then still have flexibility during the season. But at this point, I think that would be perfectly fine

with, again, the financial flexibility that they have going forward throughout the next few years. That's something that you could swallow. It wouldn't be a huge detriment to you. So Fant is ready for the call. The Titans need to make it. But I got to tell you guys, the fact that the Titans haven't made that call yet

kind of worries me that they're not interested. So, we'll see how the offensive line plays out. But that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.