By: Zachary Wagner
The NFL season kicks off tonight with the reigning Super Bowl Champs Kansas City Chiefs taking on former Clemson Tiger Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans. Over the past week Watson and former Clemson wide receiver legend Deandre Hopkins both signed the largest deal in NFL history at their respective positions.
Watson signed a four-year, $156 million deal with the Houston Texans after leading them to their first playoff victory in over five years last season. The deal will give Watson almost $39 million a year and a $27 million signing bonus. Everyone ooh’ed and ahh’ed at Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes new deal in july, with a 10-year contract paying out over half a billion dollars, but Watson will make more money per season than Mahomes for the next four years.
Hopkins finds himself on a new team, this time out on the west coast playing for the Arizona Cardinals. On September 8th, Hopkins negotiated himself the largest pay day for a non-quarterback in NFL history. The former Tiger will make $27.25 million a season for the next four years with the Cardinals.
It is not surprising that two former Clemson players who played under Dabo Swinney are now the highest paid players in the NFL. Clemson Sports News asked Coach Swinney just about that:
As you can tell Coach Swinney is very proud of the hard work and dedication his former players have put into their craft.
Watson and Hopkins are just the first in a long line of Clemson Tigers to get a large pay day in the NFL. Trevor Lawrence will soon find himself signed on the dotted line on a contract that should rival what Watson and Mahomes are making.
