Former NFL Executive Criticizes Hopkins Signing, Says Titans 'Made Problem Worse'

The Tennessee Titans received praise from most for their signing of DeAndre Hopkins, but a former NFL executive thinks the Titans overpaid for Hopkins and made the A.J. Brown problem worse.

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans made the splash of the NFL summer when reports dropped that they would be the team signing DeAndre Hopkins. Considering the Titans' need at the position and the price paid, nearly all of the reaction was positive.

The Titans did see their fair share of criticism along with the praise. Some criticized Hopkins' ability to continue to be productive or the Titans' roster and it's ability to win games. One criticism though came from former NFL executive turned podcaster, Michael Lombardi.

Lombardi likened the Titans to "The Three Stooges" in a tweet and said this on his recent podcast "The GM Shuffle:"

"By being so reticent about not bringing A.J. Brown back at 25 years old," Lombardi explained, "Now they have to sign a 31-year old who's kind of towards the end of his career. Who doesn't have the same burst or big play ability 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."

For the Titans, not signing AJ Brown forced the team to overpay for DeAndre Hopkins. No one else was close to offering 2-YRs / $26M. It's "The Three Stooges" drilling a hole to let the water out of a sinking boat.

Check out #GMShuffle at https://t.co/b4sYN4CC91 pic.twitter.com/MiRBVDElqo

— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) July 17, 2023

If the Titans could go back in time and prevent Jon Robinson from trading A.J. Brown, I think they would. I am no scientist, but last I checked, they cannot. Using the Brown trade as a way to disparage the Hopkins signing seems to be missing mark in a big way.

The Titans did what they could scientifically do and that is fire Jon Robinson for one of the worst moves in recent NFL history. The worst thing they could do now with Ran Carthon at the helm is let previous decisions dictate future actions. 

Carthon is an entirely new general manager and after that change was made, the Titans had no more allegiance to the moves of a previous general manager.

In the past there were mistakes, but in the present a team with Derrick Henry, Jeffery Simmons and Kevin Byard was desperate for wide receiver and now they have it in a big way. The Titans acquired the best wide receiver available in this year's offseason and are paying him a salary that is outside the top 20 at his position.

There is no way to color that as an overpay. The Titans are paying DeAndre Hopkins less than the Steelers are paying Allen Robinson. Let that soak in for a moment. Hopkins may not be the most elite version of himself, but he is surely worth $13 million a season.

For balance sake, let's say Hopkins is washed and gives the Titans less than 500 yards receiving while having an injury-plagued year. Let's also say the Titans cut Hopkins after the season and eat a $10-12 million dead cap hit. Well, the Titans are projected to have anywhere from $80-100 million in cap room.

With all that being said, I am having a hard time finding how adding Hopkins to this roster for average-starter money with little financial penalty potential in the future "makes the problem worse." 

If "the problem" is the Titans lack talent at wide receiver, there is truly no way to say this could have made that situation worse than what it was with names like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine or Chris Moore as starters.

One last thing to note here is a potential conflict of interest. Lombardi deserves credit for his role as a scout and an executive during his NFL career, but he also worked and currently has ties to the New England Patriots organization.

It is hard to find anything that gets unanimous praise in today's climate, but the Titans bringing in Hopkins probably got as close as it gets. Even then, there are always a handful of naysayers, so no surprise to see that here.

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