One of the biggest reasons DeAndre Hopkins signed with the Tennessee Titans over the New England Patriots was something neither team had any control over.
It was largely due to taxes, according to NFL Network personality Jason McCourty, who played for the Titans and Patriots as a DB during his career.
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McCourty was at Titans camp this past weekend and spoke to Hopkins about choosing Tennessee in free agency and said that the All-Pro receiver didn’t have a hard time making his final decision for his new team, with the Titans and Patriots reported as the two finalists to land his services.
“DeAndre Hopkins, he looks to be the real deal there. His connection so far with Ryan Tannehill has been really exciting. I talked to this man. I said, was iy hard decision to join the Titans? Was not a tough one at all,” McCourty said Monday on “Good Morning Football.”
McCourty noted how big of a factor income tax is for high-salary NFL players when choosing their new destinations. Taxes can make it so all contracts are not equal depending on where a player signs. For example, Massachusetts has a 5% income tax, but the newly passed “Millionaire’s tax” will bump that up to 9% for those making over $1 million.
It will be a totally different situation for Hopkins with the Titans. There’s no income tax in Tennessee. However, NFL players must pay taxes for every state that they play in, which means they’re subject to different tax laws on road games. Fortunate for Hopkins, he’s playing at the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans every year.
“We laughed about the fact that there’s no state tax in Tennessee. He’s back in the AFC South, you guys. None. There’s none in Texas and there’s none in Florida. They are a lot of games where, maybe this contract isn’t as much, but he’ll be making the most of it.”
Hopkins signed a two-year, $26 million deal with the Titans ahead of training camp.
