DeAndre Hopkins kept the receipts.
He took to social media Thursday and responded to a highlight video of himself and said, “Remember the articles from so called top executives saying I can’t play anymore 😂😂, In Ran We trust.”
Hopkins could have been referring to an article from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer during free agency ahead of the 2023 campaign. At the time, the Arizona Cardinals had released him and there were legitimate questions about his ceiling moving forward after he missed eight games in 2022, six of which were for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
One team executive said of Hopkins at the time he had “not much” left and “can’t run anymore.”
Another said of the wide receiver: “Still great hands, he is not going to separate, not much of a deep threat, but very strong, and makes contested catches as well as anyone in the NFL. Does not love to practice—I can’t imagine that’ll get any better.”
Despite those apparent concerns, the Tennessee Titans still signed him to a two-year, $26 million deal that runs through the upcoming campaign. He finished with 75 catches for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns in his first season on that contract, which marked the seventh time he surpassed 1,000 yards in his career.
His career also includes five Pro Bowl nods, three first-team All-Pro selections and an NFL-best 13 touchdown catches in 2017.
While Hopkins is 32 years old and can’t realistically be expected to replicate some of his peak performances moving forward, he was still largely excellent for the Titans and clearly has self-belief heading into the 2024 campaign.