There is hope that the Cleveland Browns land DeAndre Hopkins

The Cleveland Browns seem to think that DeAndre Hopkins could arrive in town.

The Cleveland Browns are among the teams that make the most sense for former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, to land with. The Browns have one of his closest friends in the league on the roster, embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson, and an offense that’s designed to get receivers the ball.

The bond between the two shouldn’t be minimized, either. While everyone is talking about Hopkins getting played, Hopkins went to bat for Watson during the height of the sexual assault complaints filed against him. The two are very close.

Plus, there’s the new offense that the Browns have, which should give Hopkins a serious chance to rebound from a few bad seasons in Arizona. So there are a few very strong, very good reasons for the Browns to land Hopkins and while we don’t know what the future holds, we do know how to read the tea leaves, so to speak.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com is an insider with knowledge of the team, and she carries some good weight as a reporter. So if she’s not closing the door on Hopkins landing with the team, neither should anyone else.

In her article on Tuesday, Cabot wrote that Hopkins isn’t out of the plans yet for the Browns;

"But there’s one big-name NFL player who won’t be there at least on the first day of minicamp, although he might land here somewhere in the near future. That’s five-time Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins, whom Deshaun Watson said the Browns Foundation Golf Outing last week that he’d like to be reunited with.It’s still a possibility, but many things would have to fall into place, especially the money. With Odell Beckham Jr. getting $15 million this year from the Ravens, Hopkins will want to get paid. But stranger things have happened for the Browns, and the door is still open for D-Hop to be reunited with his former Texans quarterback."

The Cleveland Browns need a full-court press for DeAndre Hopkins

Unlike Barney Stinson, I don’t believe that newer is always better. Just because the Browns overhauled their receiver room doesn’t mean that I now think they’re going to be an elite offense. I think they’re going to struggle with the guys they have. Sure, Amari Cooper is still a 1,000-yard guy, but he isn’t a real number one who can take over a game on his own. He needs help. Donovan Peoples-Jones is a third receiver on a good team at his best, and everyone else beyond those two is unproven.

Even if Hopkins isn’t worth his deal, even if he’s only 70% of what he was in Houston, that’s still a lot better than relying on someone with behavioral issues like Elijah Moore. Not to mention guys like David Bell and Cedric Tillman, who are unknown variables. Based on last year alone, while acknowledging he could get a lot better still, Bell looks like a bust. He could turn it around, absolutely, but last year, he was awful.

Tillman, there’s little about him that’s reliable because he’s not exactly a guy with a lot of tapes to his name. He’s only had one “dominant” year in college and that was as a junior. He was awful as a senior and while yes, he was coming off of an injury, he still wasn’t good.

There’s no guarantee he’s ever going to be a good pro receiver. Especially with his ankle injury. The Browns need someone who they can rely on and that someone is Hopkins.