Following $26,000,000 DeAndre Hopkins move, HC Mike Vrabel gets candid on possible Julio Jones-esque fate for Titans WR
Head coach Mike Vrabel appeared in Bussin’ With the Boys before DeAndre Hopkins joined the Tennessee Titans. That’s why he did not give a definitive answer when Will Compton and Taylor Lewan asked if Hopkins had agreed to terms.
However, the former NFL linebacker shared his thoughts when Lewan mentioned how Julio Jones fared in his only season with the Titans.
He said to Lewan and Compton:
"I mean, I don't think whatever happened in the past with another player is going to apply to this particular player, and things come up, we'll have to, you know, work through him. But I mean, we wouldn't have signed him or wanted to sign him if we weren't confident that he'd helped us."
Eventually, DeAndre Hopkins chose the Titans over the New England Patriots and other teams that showed some interest in having him. He agreed to a two-year, $26 million contract with Tennessee, giving him an average of $13 million annually.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons traded Julio Jones to the Titans during the 2021 season in exchange for three draft picks. Tennessee also absorbed the remainder of the three-year, $66 million contract Jones signed with Atlanta before the 2019 season started.
While he was a five-time All-Pro member and seven-time Pro Bowler at that point, Jones didn’t pan out in Tennessee. He finished the regular season with 31 receptions for 434 yards and a touchdown. Jones only had one 100-yard game and was limited to ten games due to injuries.
Despite his career-low numbers then, the Titans were the top seed in the AFC playoffs with a 12-5 record. Unfortunately, his 62 receiving yards during the Divisional Round game were not enough to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals.
Signing DeAndre Hopkins comes with a risk because he has played only 19 games over the last two seasons. However, he had 717 yards and three touchdowns in nine games last year. He missed six games after violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.
Mike Vrabel did due diligence on DeAndre Hopkins
Ironically, Vrabel won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, the team seen as the other frontrunner in the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes.
But with his playing days well behind him, Vrabel started coaching in 2011. He became the Titans’ head coach in 2018 after stints with the Ohio State Buckeyes, his college alma mater, and the Houston Texans.
Vrabel shared with Compton and Lewan his thought process in evaluating players they would like to sign in free agency.
"Again, anytime in free agency, I think you have to have some working knowledge of the player. Who they are as a person, who they are in the building, whether one of your coaches coached him, whether you knew him because just for the million reasons that we talked about with the culture and what's it going to be like and what the expectations are. Sometimes free agency is great, sometimes you know, it's not. So there's always things that you have to be careful of."
Vrabel hopes that adding DeAndre Hopkins will help them improve from their 7-10 record last season. Beyond Hopkins, the Titans front office has other pressing concerns, especially regarding Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry.