Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans' DeAndre Hopkins Pursuit 'More Aggressive' than Patriots & What Vrabel's 'Buy-In' Means

Episode Date: July 10, 2023

The Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots continue to square off for DeAndre Hopkins, but according to a recent report, the Titans have been "more aggressive" so far. Tyler breaks down what that could mean and how it likely is about more than just money. Next, we got another report indicating the idea of signing Hopkins has a ton of "buy in" from head coach Mike Vrabel. Another interesting report to decipher the true meaning of. Tyler discusses Vrabel's role and what he could be capable of. Finally, the Titans have to make this deal or the can't sell much hope to their fans in 2023.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!birddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNFL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNFL for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.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

According to recent reports, the Tennessee Titans have been more aggressive in their pursuit of DeAndre Hopkins than the New England Patriots. We're going to go over the latest with Hopkins 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 Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

It's time to go over all of the latest reports, news, buzz, rumors in regards to DeAndre Hopkins. We sit just a couple weeks out from the start of training camp, which is an artificial deadline of sorts for Hopkins. And I think the Titans find themselves in a great position to be the team that lands them. But before we get into all that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL.

That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. 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 all year round on all apps

and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in the show Monday through Friday. You guys got a lot of great content coming the rest of this week.

I'm going to dive back into our positional preview series. Talk about the edge rushers on the team, linebackers, safeties, cornerbacks, all that coming your way. Don't miss it. Make sure that you throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now, though. On YouTube, again, the show is free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But rolling right along here,

we got some interesting reporting around the DeAndre Hopkins situation over the weekend. And where I want to start, I want to start with Mike Reese, who covers the New England Patriots. And he had a little bit of a mailbag over the weekend. He works for ESPN and covers the Patriots again, like I said. So he had some interesting things to say about the pursuit for DeAndre Hawkins. And that's where this more aggressive thing that you've probably heard all day long has come from. But here's what Mike Reese had to say when asked for a DeAndre Hopkins update. Again, this is the Patriots side of things as he is a beat reporter for New England.

He said, quote, key points on where things stand with free agent receiver DeAndre Hopkins. According to sources close to the situation are as follows. The Tennessee Titans and the Patriots have made offers. The Titans have been more aggressive to this point and Hopkins hasn't been in a rush to sign. One reason for Hopkins to wait a bit longer is to leave open the possibility of another team entering the mix, potentially increasing his market. End quote. So to dive into the most interesting things there, the Titans and the Patriots have made offers.

So that's confirming something that we've seen reported before. Offers have been made, and that makes sense. You don't bring a guy into your building, fly him to your facility, meet with coaches, meet with teammates, all that, and don't give him an offer before he leaves so that he at least has something to chew on when he goes on his other offers. But the more interesting part of this is, again, the Titans have been more aggressive to this point.

What does that mean, though? What does that mean?? What does that mean? In my mind, the Titans being more aggressive, all that means is they've offered more money. The Titans have offered DeAndre Hopkins more money. That is my translation. That's what aggressiveness is in this market, right? What are you willing to pay this guy?

What are you willing to, and it's not just the money. Think about contract structure, incentive bonuses, bonus money for the player, maybe a player option on top of that for next season. Different things that the Titans can do to cater to the player. To me, it reminds me of if you've ever played NBA 2K and you're trying to court a free agent and they have that meter that tells you how interested would the player be in signing the offer that you're giving him. It'll be red, be yellow, a little better green if they think they would sign it. You know what I mean? Well, you would go through and you would put, hey, let's backload the contract so that the player, you know, the money keeps going up.

He gets high bonus, but he'll get higher salaries at the back end of the contract. Players seem to like that. At least, you know, again, on the video game for the example, then you could add a no trade clause. That'll add that, add that player interest ticker just a little bit more. Now you're going from yellow to maybe a little green. Then you add in a bonus, a player option for the guy. And now it's all the way green and he's ready to say, Hey, you're giving me more money. You're giving me more flexibility. You're giving me more incentives, all that. Hey, now I'm in. Basically in my mind, the Titans are willing to do those extra little things with the contract to sign DeAndre Hopkins and make their deal better than the deal presented by the Patriots.

And again, that to me is what I get from the Titans have been more aggressive going after DeAndre Hopkins. So again, that report comes from Mike Reese of ESPN, who's covered the New England Patriots for a long time. But that wasn't the only thing that Mike Reese had to say about DeAndre Hopkins. The next thing I want to show you is him responding to a Patriots fan asking him a question on Twitter. I'm pulling up that tweet right now so that you guys can see it on YouTube.

And basically, again, this is Mike Reese responding to a question from a fan of the Patriots. Mike Reese says, quote, Hi, John. It feels like trying to forecast the weather weeks out so things can change. My current lean would be Titans, but it is subject to change depending on what happens in the weeks to come. So we have a Patriots reporter reporting that the Titans have been more aggressive, and I explained I think that's not just more money being offered, but a more favorable structure for Hopkins as well. but a more favorable structure for Hopkins as well.

But now we're seeing a Patriots insider say that they lean to the Titans because they understand the details of what's going on. So if we're hearing that the Titans have been more aggressive, and I translate that into what I think it means, let me know down below what you think more aggressive means. Do you think it just means money, or are you with me that there's probably some other things with contract structure and the total offer, not just the money, that could be influencing that language?

I guess. Let me know down below how you guys feel about that quote. But then you get the lean Tennessee situation. It's like Mike Reese knows. Feels like he's setting it up for, hey, the Titans are just willing to do more to bring in Hopkins than the Patriots are willing to do. And the Patriots made some extensions lately with their players

that looked like they could be opening up some more cap room for a DeAndre Hopkins move. And to me, you know, some people were tagging me in that news like, hey, this is bad news. The Patriots are clearing more cap space. Well, maybe the Patriots are trying to clear more cap space because the Titans are offering more and they're just trying to get as close to the Titans offer as they possibly can. So they're trying to clear out more money by doing a couple extensions with their own players.

Again, rather than the Patriots clearing out the space to lock down the deal, it could be the Patriots know that they're losing the race for DeAndre Hopkins. So they're trying to do whatever they can to meet the Titans financially. But the Titans have more incentive, in my opinion, to do this. And that might be why we see Mike Vrabel going all in. And I'll tell you why I think Mike Vrabel is going all in. We'll talk about another report surrounding DeAndre Hopkins and his situation and talk about why I think the Titans are in the catbird seat here

and why I do think the Tennessee Titans will sign DeAndre Hopkins. So we're going to get into that in just a moment. Before we do, I want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. All right, I'm just going to shoot you guys straight on this. Bird Dogs are the best pair of shorts that I've ever worn. I actually wore them yesterday when I went down the river. It was absolutely fantastic. They're so comfortable.

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Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast doing a recap on what is going on with DeAndre Hopkins, all the recent reports, all the recent buzz. I think DeAndre Hopkins is a Tennessee Titan. We just talked about what Mike Reese from ESPN had to say about the Titans being more

aggressive going after Hopkins, what that could mean about the fact that he leans Tennessee when it comes to who Hopkins will pick. I lean Tennessee as well in this discussion. And it sounds like Mike Vrabel, despite his comment earlier in the summer saying that he's done recruiting since he's not in college anymore, Mike Vrabel sounds like he's all in in trying to make this happen and for good reason. So we're going to talk about the recent report showing that.

Before I get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Locked on Titans podcast.

It's your team every day. My everydayers out there, let me know down below in the comment section who you are. I appreciate you guys so much. Can't even say how much. I appreciate it. But I want to go to a tweet here from Brandon Gall

from the 440 Network. He was hosting a show on Saturday morning. He was doing the Darian Mel show for ESPN. And he spoke with Jeremy Fowler, also from ESPN, who gave some reporting on the situation. And as you can see from the tweet that's up on my screen right now on YouTube, but it's Jeremy Fowler said, quote,

the Titans are well positioned. There is a lot of buy-in from Mike Vrabel. Jeremy Fowler on Tennessee possibly being in the lead spot for DeAndre Hopkins. So, wanted to discuss that here. What does a lot of buy-in mean for Mike Vrabel? To me, it has everything to do with practice and offensive involvement. So, number one, Mike Vrabel knows Hopkins.

DeAndre Hopkins, I talked about this earlier in the summer. I wrote about it for Sports Illustrated at alltitans.com. Check out my work over there. But DeAndre Hopkins, after Mike Vrabel was hired by the Titans, talked about how great of a guy Mike Vrabel is. Not just a coach, but a man. Talked about how whether it was on the field, off the field, you felt like you could talk to Vrabel, you could relate to Vrabel. Vrabel's relationship with DeAndre Hopkins could be a major deciding factor here. So it makes sense that Mike Vrabel would push all in to have that connection. Is Vrabel the one texting him directly? Did Vrabel meet him when he got off the plane?

Is Vrabel the one who showed him around the city, who was in that bus with him? You know what I mean? Did Vrabel go to the CMA Fest with him? Is Vrabel the one leading the charge for this recruitment? That very well could be the case, and that's what it could mean to have a ton of buy-in from Mike Vrabel.

But I also think that has to do with what Hopkins wants to do as a player with practice. Like Julio Jones, some Titans fans are going to start twitching here. DeAndre Hopkins isn't known as a guy who loves to practice. He's a guy who gives a lot of veteran rest days, stuff like that, because he's not a guy who just wants to go all out and practice. He wants to be ready for the game. You understand that as you get to be an older player. And I mean, even Kevin Byard skipped some OTAs this year because he knows what's best for him. And that might not be as going as hard

as Mike Vrabel wants you to go in practice. So there could be some sort of agreement. And I'll say this too. There was reporting that Bill Belichick had a long meeting with DeAndre Hopkins when Hopkins visit New England. And it was mostly about what Hopkins was going to do practice-wise because Vrabel and Belichick are old-school coaches who think everybody needs to practice. So I'm sure some agreement about practice time was worked out, and Mike Vrabel may be more lenient than Bill Belichick when it comes to that practice situation, that practice agreement,

and that could be part of the buy-in from Mike Vrabel. But I also think a lot of it has to do with offensive involvement, quite honestly. Mike Vrabel is maybe making promises to Hopkins that the Patriots aren't willing to make. One, you have Bill O'Brien there. In my opinion, I don't see how DeAndre Hopkins can go play with Bill O'Brien again after In my opinion, I don't see how DeAndre Hopkins can go play with Bill O'Brien again

after the comments that he made about Aaron Hernandez and about DeAndre Hopkins, the mother of his children and stuff like that. All of that stuff that Michael Irvin talked about on Get Up like a couple of years ago

about the relationship there. I just don't see how that can work out. And not to mention, the Patriots have Devontae Parker, just gave an extension to. Kendrick Bourne, Juju Smith-Schuster, they just signed this summer. Hunter Henry.

Mike Gasicki, who's basically a wide receiver. They give the ball to Ramondre Stevenson a ton. The Patriots are a run-first offense with a milquetoast QB. The Titans have more targets available for Hopkins. Mike Vrabel can commit more targets to Hopkins. Tim Kelly, who was part of the offensive staff in Houston, can commit more to Hopkins and tell him,

hey, I know exactly where you want the ball, what routes you like to run, what situations you do best in, and more willing to cater to you more than maybe a Bill Belichick and Bill O'Brien would be. Bill O'Brien's already showed he's not willing to cater to DeAndre Hopkins in Houston. So more targets, a better quarterback, even if they're similar, better relationships, the Titans can offer more money. DeAndre Hopkins is from the South. Why would he want to live in

Boston over Nashville as a guy from the South who played in Houston and Clemson and is from the South, why would he want to live in Boston over Nashville as a guy from the South who played in Houston and Clemson and is from South Carolina? State taxes, so more money, better offensive opportunity, better chance to make the playoffs in a worse division. I mean, the further we get along here, you know, as somebody who, I cover the team, but make no mistake, I am a Titans fan through and through. I mean, look behind you here. I don't try to hide that. I want the Titans to sign Hopkins.

But I try to stay level-headed here and not get too far ahead of myself and not get too excited and, you know, just not overdo it. Don't count your chickens until they hatch. Aesop's Fables. Aesop's Fables. Gotta live by that. So I'm trying not to get too

far afront myself here. But my logic part of my brain is like better team, better targets, better QB, better relationships, better financial situation, better living situation. I mean, where are the Titans losing here? So it makes all the sense

in the world that the Titans losing here? So it makes all the sense in the world that the Titans are being more aggressive, that Mike Reese leans Titans when it comes to signing DeAndre Hopkins, that Mike Vrabel is all in, and that Tennessee may be leading the race. All of this makes sense because the Titans absolutely desperately need it to happen.

So I'm going to talk about that a little bit to close our show here. But before we get into it, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs is the best place you could possibly post your job if you're a small business. I know, I know, every potential hire these days feels like a high-stakes wager for your business,

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Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Talking more about DeAndre Hopkins and why we got all the good news from the Hopkins reports, but at the end of the day, what it comes down to is the Tennessee Titans' desperation to bring this guy in. So before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Barring any breaking news or anything crazy happening, tomorrow's show, we are going to be talking about the edge rush group for the Titans as we continue our positional preview series

before training camp. We've talked interior D-line. We've talked the entire offensive side of the ball. Go back and check those out if you missed any of them. They're evergreen shows that will be just as good today as they were the day that I released them. But of course, again, the rest of the defense is coming throughout the rest of this week,

early into next week. Make sure that you don't miss any of that. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast at your team every day. But, despite the reports from Mike Reese about the Titans being more aggressive, his lean to Tennessee, despite the report

from Jeremy Fowler that Mike Vrabel it's a ton of buy-in from Mike Vrabel on making this move happen. At the end of the day, the driving force here has to be the Tennessee Titans' desperation. I've said it throughout the summer. It will continue to be the theme. And I will tell you why signing DeAndre Hopkins

is make or break for the Titans' season. It's a make or break move. This team is pretty solid. It's pretty solid. The offensive line is still a big question mark. NPF suspension doesn't help that. But you know what you get from Derrick Henry. You know what you're going to get from Ryan Tannehill,

properly protected. The Titans defense feel pretty comfortable with what they got going on over there at all three levels. It's wide receiver. I mean, offensive line is a bigger question mark to me than most people are accepting. But at the end of the day, wide receiver is the place where the talent is so despicable

that it's hard to take the Titans serious as a team. It's hard to even talk yourself into double-digit wins, maybe winning a playoff game. It's just impossible to talk yourself into any of that with the way this wide receiver group looks. If you add DeAndre Hopkins, who is top 20 wide receiver in the NFL, if you get the best version of Hopkins,

top 10, if you add that to this team, it totally changes the ceiling and the conversation that you can have about what this team can do. The Titans are desperate to do this. They have to be. They need to be. Because at the end of the day, all offseason, they've tried to walk two paths. They've tried to walk the last dance path with Tannehill and Henry on the last year of their contract. They've tried to walk the prioritized youth path

by using their early draft picks on Will Levis and Tajay Spears. You try to walk down two paths, you only walk down the wrong one. This would be a commitment by the Titans to a last dance run with Tannehill and Henry. This would, my biggest gripe all year is if you're going to go all out with Henry and Tannehill in their last year, then how is this wide receiver group what you've put together?

You can't tell me this is a last dance, last ditch effort to make a run and win a Super Bowl when this is the wide receiver group that you've put together. You just can't tell me that. So the whole entire point of this is, you add DeAndre Hopkins to that mix, now you can sell it. Now I can believe it. Now I can see the vision.

I saw somebody on Twitter the other day. I think it was on Monday. Yeah. Take a screenshot of Mike Vrabel and Ran Carthon when they're waving at the camera during the draft after the fifth round selection of Josh Wiley. And they're essentially

trolling the fan base that they didn't pick a wide receiver. Hi, we didn't do it. Well, maybe they knew. Maybe they knew that Hopkins could be right around the corner. The only thing they can explain, just the absolute neglect of the wide receiver position all offseason. Chris Moore, Colton Dow, if I told you guys at the end of last season

that those are the only additions the Titans would make at wide receiver, you'd cry. You'd cry. You'd say, no way. So, if I told you they added Hopkins, now that's a different level of excitement. So, this is all good news. We're getting closer and closer to training camp. We might get more reports. Hopefully, another team doesn't cut in here and try to steal Hopkins away.

But all good news for the Titans when it comes to the latest reporting on DeAndre Hopkins. But that's all the latest. That is going to do it for me today, folks. Again, I'll be back with you guys tomorrow to cover the edge rushers. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titan.