Where were you when you heard the news the Houston Texans had traded three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-round selection?
The transaction that shocked Houston sports fans on March 20, 2020, was named the “Best Sports Transaction of the Year” from the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Friday.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes, in an offseason where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed quarterback Tom Brady, who won them a Super Bowl at the end of the 2020 campaign, Arizona trading for Hopkins was the best move in the entire NFL.
A rare “L” for Tom Brady and the Bucs….
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 12, 2021
“I’d say with three years left on his contract, his representatives, himself, myself and our team of people, we spoke and we felt like relative to what I said earlier — salary cap, future, our team, being able to provide our team with more and more role players, layers of players — it was in the best interest of our team to move DeAndre to Arizona,” then-coach and general manager Bill O’Brien told reporters on April 16, 2020. “We feel like we made a really good deal with Arizona.”
So did Arizona. So did the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Reality didn’t as the Texans finished 4-12 with O’Brien losing his job after an 0-4 start.