In a recent article on SI.com, NFL reporter Albert Breer pointed to "easy money" as the reason for free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins deciding to sign with the Tennessee Titans this weekend. 

What Tennessee offered Hopkins financially was well above where the rest of the market was willing to go. "For the 31-year-old, five-time All-Pro, getting $12 million in base pay and upside to $15 million in the week leading up to the opening of camp is unequivocally a win," Breer wrote in his article published Tuesday morning.

But even with the Titans jumping the market on Hopkins, this contract should not be viewed as an "overpay." If Hopkins remains as productive as he was in Arizona last season, his deal will look like a bargain for Tennessee – Hopkins is paid more like a WR2 than the top 10 receiving talent he is.

There was also a very real possibility that Hopkins would have been willing to take less money to play for a team with Super Bowl aspirations in 2023 – Kansas City or Buffalo, for example. According to Breer, the Titans needed to get their offer closer to the money Odell Beckham Jr. got from the Baltimore Ravens if they were going to keep Hopkins away from the Chiefs.

"That brings us to the Chiefs, who I believe would’ve considered circling back," wrote Breer on Kansas City's involvement in the Hopkins sweepstakes. "Teams involved felt Hopkins would consider taking less to go to KC or another top contender if the money didn’t get closer to what Odell Beckham Jr. got prior to camps opening."

Kansas City reportedly worked on a trade with the Cardinals and a deal with Hopkins back in April, but when Beckham got $15 million in free agency for the 2023 season, the market for Hopkins got thrown off. 

The Titans offered a financial package nobody else was going to touch. I suppose you could view at that as an overpay if you'd like, but all I see is a team doing what's necessary to fill their biggest roster hole prior to training camp. Ran Carthon and Mike Vrabel were not ignorant to the fact that they needed reinforcements at wide receiver, and they jumped on the chance to sign one of the best veteran receivers in the league. 

If Tennessee doesn't get that contract AAV closer to Beckham's mark of $15 million, DeAndre Hopkins is signing with the Kansas City Chiefs right now and Titans fans are losing hope for 2023. 

I expect Hopkins to be worth every penny for the Titans and this time next year, we may even be talking about how underpaid Hopkins is for an elite talent at a premium position. But even if things don't work out, this is good value and a deal Tennessee should look back on with no regrets. It sounds like the Titans were always going to need to pay more to beat out KC, and adding Hopkins to the roster was a necessity if Carthon and Vrabel were serious about competing for an AFC South title in 2023.

This lazy narrative about the Titans, DeAndre Hopkins needs to die

This Titans criticism just doesn’t make much sense.