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Hopkins Gets Five-Year Extension From Texans
DeAndre Hopkins received his massive contract extension ahead of the 2017 regular season. According to multiple reports, the Texans have finalized a five-year contract extension for the superstar receiver, according to a source informed of the deal.

Last offseason Hopkins staged a brief holdout in hopes to get a new contract. A year later the man who has carried the Texans offense got paid. The extension is worth $81 million with nearly $49 million guaranteed.

As NFL.com notes, the 25-year-old former first-round pick was slated to enter the final year of his rookie contract, earning $7.915 million. He's now signed through 2022.

The extension places Hopkins atop the receivers' market in terms of guaranteed money. Julio Jones and Demaryius Thomas signed deals with $35 million guaranteed.

The massive contract extension placed Hopkins in line more with his production as the Texans go-to target. Playing with a gaggle of underwhelming quarterbacks, Hopkins has earned 317 receptions and 4,487 yards and 23 touchdowns in four seasons.

And what about this year?

Although they were abruptly thrown into the huddle together late last season during a win over Jacksonville (when Brock Osweiler was benched), Tom Savage and Hopkins displayed a lot of potential as a passing tandem.

Targeted 15 times by Savage, Hopkins caught eight passes for 87 yards during the comeback victory. Those are the moments that Savage and Hopkins hope to replicate this fall. Despite the selection of DeShaun Watson in the first round of April's draft, Savage is the starter to open the season.

Hopkins was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2015 when he caught a career-high 111 passes for 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns. His production dipped last season to 78 catches for 954 yards and four scores while dealing with erratic passing from Osweiler. Eleven of Osweiler's 19 interceptions, including the playoffs, occurred while throwing in Hopkins' direction. Head coach Bill O'Brien made it clear at the NFL scouting combine that he doesn't fault Hopkins for the receiver's statistical decline.

Fantasy owners should do the same and take advantage of the value that's going to come in the wake of a disappointing season. That discount alone should be sufficient reason to roll with Hopkins this fall.

Also worth noting, shortly after word of their agreement on a contract extension with safety Andre Hal broke, tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz got a three-year, $21.5 million extension that included $10 million guaranteed and fullback Jay Prosch got a three-year extension worth $5.75 million with $2.7 million guaranteed.

Fiedorowicz is the rare tight end who combines pass-catching and blocking ability. The Texans seem to have been extremely happy with his development -- a fact that's borne out by their usage at the position. According to ESPN's Mike Clay, during O'Brien's first two seasons with the Texans, 12 percent of the team's targets were directed at the tight end position. Last year, that mark nearly tripled to 31 percent.

Houston had two or more tight ends on the field for 24 percent of its offensive snaps in 2014, 20 percent in 2015 and 20 percent in 2016.

The question then becomes whether some of Fiedorowicz's increased action was due to the presence of Osweiler. Of Osweiler's 557 aimed throws, Clay reports that 31.6 percent were directed at a TE. Of Savage's 70 aimed throws, only 24.3 percent went to a TE (although Fiedorowicz did miss one of his games). Given all that, Clay expects fewer throws to the TE position this season. Remember, the Texans also retained Ryan Griffin, who had a career season in 2016 with 50 catches working in tandem with Fiedorowicz.

Prosch was a sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft and has missed just one game since joining the team. Like most fullbacks, Prosch is not asked to do much with the ball in his hands and has 10 carries and two catches over the course of his career. He doesn’t figure to add to those totals too much, but should stick around for the length of the contract if he continues to help open holes for Lamar Miller out of the Houston backfield.