'Easy Money': Patriots Refused to Match Titans' Incentives for DeAndre Hopkins Contract?

Though the base salaries were identical, the Tennessee Titans signed DeAndre Hopkins because the New England Patriots refused to match easy-to-reach incentives for the free-agent receiver.

Yesterday we surmised that the reason the New England Patriots didn't sign DeAndre Hopkins was, well, they didn't actually want him. Today it was confirmed. Well, sort of.

According to Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer, the Patriots indeed came this close to meeting the receiver's contract demands. But when they weren't willing to tweak their offer into a sweeter deal, Hopkins signed with the Tennessee Titans.

The deal-breaker: Though the Pats were willing to match Tennessee's total of $15 million for this season, they wanted a "far higher percentage of that total tied to incentives." Translation: The Patriots wanted Hopkins' performance to earn him his money; Titans were willing to pay the same money for much lower thresholds.

According to Breer, Hopkins made the easy choice of taking the "easy money."

As we mentioned, the receiver's relationships to Titans coaches Mike Vrabel and Tim Kelly when they were all together in Houston with the Texans didn't hurt. In fact, Breer says Hopkins has a "good enough rapport with Vrabel to have texted with him while he was on his visit with the Patriots."

Ouch. That reeks of a guy - a "playa" - surfing Tinder while he's on a first date.

But the real deciding factor was, not surprisingly, money. The Pats knew the 31-year-old Hopkins has been limited by injuries to 16 games over the past two years, doesn't necessarily like to practice, and would need to be "managed' into being available. The Titans, on the other hand, pretty much guaranteed his $15 million via easy-to-reach incentives.

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