Vrabel discusses Hopkins' fit with Titans

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mike Vrabel discusses DeAndre Hopkins' fit with Titans

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 7/24/23

Head coach Mike Vrabel clearly had no concerns about veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins fitting in with the Tennessee Titans this summer.

"Any time you’re 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 them or you knew them," Vrabel said after Hopkins officially signed his contract on Monday, per Sean T. McGuire of NESN. "We’ve got some coaches on staff that have been with Hop, me included, so we obviously feel good about it."

Vrabel served as linebackers coach and, later, as the defensive coordinator with the Houston Texans from 2014 through the 2017 season when Hopkins played for that organization.

After Hopkins received his release from the Arizona Cardinals late this spring, he completed visits with both the Titans and New England Patriots. While the Patriots seemed seriously interested in signing the three-time first-team All-Pro, it was reported in June they also had concerns the 31-year-old wasn't a good "culture fit" due to his alleged questionable practice habits.

Reports emerged on July 16 claiming Hopkins and the Titans agreed to a two-year, $26M contract with incentives that could increase the deal's worth to $32M.

"Vrabel is a straight-shooter, and over my career, he has always checked in on me," Hopkins said on Monday, according to Jim Wyatt of the Titans' website. "Even when I was in Houston, he was a defensive coach, but he would still check on me just to see how I was doing — that always stuck with me, and I always wanted to be around people like that. I always wanted to be somewhere where I knew I could maximize my potential, not just as a player, but as DeAndre. And I knew Vrabel, being around him, that's what he brings out of you."

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler tweeted on July 16 that the Patriots' "base financial package wasn’t in the same ballpark as what [the] Titans offered" Hopkins.

What's done is done, and only time will tell if New England head coach Bill Belichick will regret missing out on the five-time Pro Bowl selection while potentially "on the hot seat" this fall.

More must-reads: