Patriots may have specific concern about signing DeAndre Hopkins

The New England Patriots may not be as close to signing free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins as some initially thought following a midweek visit involving the two parties. 

“And what I hear is, I think people in the building are still wary, to an extent, of the culture fit,” Patriots insider Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston said during an appearance on Boston radio station WEEI, as shared by Ricky Doyle of NESN.

“How much does he want to practice? What kind of hoops are the Patriots themselves going to have to jump through to accommodate the way he likes to approach the game? But, to me, if you watched (organized team activities) this week or the minicamps, you could blatantly see that the optimism that I had about the on-paper potential is pretty much dashed by watching what they put on the field.” 

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated indicated Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is not yet prepared to match Hopkins’ asking price, even though the meeting between the two sides reportedly went “well.” It’s believed the three-time first-team All-Pro entered visits with the Patriots and Tennessee Titans looking for a one-year contract worth around $10M-$15M with up to $3M in incentives. It’s also thought he could wait until late next month or even early August to put pen to paper on a deal. 

Curran spoke of a Patriots team seemingly all-in on getting the most out of quarterback Mac Jones and which may feel “urgency” to sign Hopkins – but also could hide that reality from the 31-year-old.

“…I think that the Patriots are going to say, ‘Here’s how we’re gonna do things. Here’s the offense. Here’s the role we see you fitting in with us. Do you want to do this? Here’s the money we’re gonna give you,'” Curran continued. “I just don’t think it’ll be a hard sell in which they’re saying, ‘You’re our missing piece.’ But I do think that they’ll say, ‘Look, you’re a piece that’s going to make everybody better here.'” 

It could be that Hopkins cares more about making as much money as possible from a short-term contract than about chasing a Super Bowl ring or team fit. If that’s the case, Belichick may be willing to let the veteran earn that cash from the Titans or a different franchise this summer.