Having Extended DeVante Parker, Belichick Continues to Go After DeAndre Hopkins in His Relentless Pursuit of WR Excellence
As it is in most contract extensions, there are many layers to this deal Bill Belichick just gave DeVante Parker. The most obvious being that it's a ringing endorsement of Parker after he was limited somewhat by injuries (13 games, 339 passing snaps, 205 run snaps) in his first year in New England. Belichick and his staff obviously liked his production (31 receptions on 47 targets, 539 yards, a 17.4 YPR average, which was 4th highest among WRs with that many targets, and 3 TDs), his work ethic, his leadership and so on.
Secondly, this gives Parker job security, the comfort of knowing where he'll be for the next three seasons at least, or up to the age of 32. And subsequently keeps a veteran presence in the huddle for the foreseeable future.
Next, by all accounts, the deal was structured in such a way that in no way, shape, or form does it affect the Pats ability to land the big fish that is DeAndre Hopkins. As I'm writing this, we don't know to the dollar how it will move their salary cap number, just that it's likely to increase it. Which means Hopkins-to-NE is still very much in play:
And that interest is still extremely mutual:
The only issue there is that camp doesn't begin for another month, so no one appears to be in any sort of a hurry. Whereas I'd love to keep hitting the +15 seconds arrow on this podcast to skip the ad reads (though never on the Barstool pods, because those ads are uniformly brilliant and you should by all our sponsors products), neither side feels a huge sense of urgency. Hopkins has already mastered Bill O'Brien's system. Belichick has made all the public displays of affection for the player. So everyone who isn't emotionally invested in this team seems comfortable waiting out the summer.
But just to pull it back to the Google maps satellite view of the few months, I think we're seeing further evolution of Belichick's approach to the modern game. As I've stated before, no GM or coach in the league put less emphasis on the wide receiver position than him. No one came close. The Patriots philosophy under him is that quarterbacks make the receivers, not the other way around. So he invested the least amount in terms of draft capital, trade value and salary in the position than anyone. By an order of magnitude.
You can talk about the peak years at the position during the Dynasty era, the days of Randy Moss and Wes Welker. But you'd only be making my point for me. Moss came here from Oakland for a 4th round pick. Which actually was a 6th round pick at first, until Al Davis called Belichick in a panic once he found out one of his minions accepted that deal and begged for something more. Which Belichick obliged. And Moss still had to take a pay cut from $9 million to $6 million to make it happen. Welker came for next to nothing as well. And he didn't last once he started commanding big contracts himself. As it was told to me, he loved $3 million Welker, but he had no use for $9 million Welker.
But what we've seen over the last few years is his acknowledgement that you cannot win today with a wide receiver room that is currently ranked 29th in the league by Pro Football Focus (paywall). I truly believe he would've been fine with his current group - even without Parker - in say, 2012, when he had peak Rob Gronkowski and that other tight end from Florida, whatshisname. Murdnandez something. Because while he was winning then without "elite" wideout talent, all the celebrated WRs (think Larry Fitzgerald or Calvin Johnson) were barely ever sniffing the playoffs.
But that was then. And in the decade since, Bill Polian's vision of a WR-led league has come true. And Belichick is so invested in joining the trend, he didn't let the Roland Emmerich-scale disaster that was the N'Keal Harry 1st round selection discourage him from his quest. So he traded for Parker, then extended him. Drafted the fastest man in the Class of 2022 in Tyquan Thornton 50th overall. Upgraded from the limited ceiling player that Jakobi Meyers was, to a former 1,400 yard guy who just won a ring in Juju Smith-Schuster. Kept 2021 free agent addition Kendrick Bourne around as a depth guy. And now is the odds-on favorite to add on of the top receivers of his generation in Hopkins. God willing.
To be clear, this doesn't mean Belichick is going to go nuts. The imbeciles on Boston radio demanding he add Hopkins at all costs are deluding themselves. He's not going to spent to the limits of the cap. You always need flexibility going into the season. Not to mention the bill is going to come due on the very successful 2020 draft class soon. And you don't have a tight end on the roster signed beyond this year. But just the fact he's added these wideout pieces and still hot on the trail of Hopkins is all the evidence you need that this man will never stop changing to keep up with changes in the game. He's an old dog who remembers every trick he ever learned or invented, but never stops picking up new ones.
