AFC Notes: DeAndre Hopkins, Deshaun Watson, Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

Browns WR Amari Cooper said he isn’t surprised by Deshaun Watson saying he’d like the team to bring in free-agent WR DeAndre Hopkins given their history together at the Texans.

“I didn’t see that, but who wouldn’t? DeAndre has been a very great player in this league,” Cooper said, via the team’s Youtube. “Obviously, they have a lot of great chemistry. If I was him, I’d want the same thing.”

Cooper praised Hopkins’ ability to position himself for receptions. 

“With DeAndre, he’s pretty unstoppable with the way he uses his hands and his body to position himself well to make the catch,” Cooper said. “So, it would be pretty good.”

Cooper wouldn’t be concerned about possibly getting less targets as a result of Cleveland signing Hopkins. 

“You add a great receiver like that, that’s probably going to happen because there’s only one ball — everybody’s got to get their touches,” Cooper said. “So, as long as it’s helping us win, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.”

• BrownsZone.com’s Scott Petrak doesn’t expect the Browns to end up signing Hopkins, as right now he’d be far too expensive for Cleveland given his age and the level of investment they’ve made in their receiving corps this offseason. 
• Watson on Cleveland’s status with former teammate Hopkins: “I have no idea.” (Jake Trotter)

Ravens

Though he was listed as a safety last season too, Ravens 2022 first-rounder Kyle Hamilton spent most of his rookie year as a slot defender. In his second season, Hamilton is moving into a full-time safety role. 

“It’s June 6, so we’re still getting the kinks out at this point. But as of right now, I’ve been getting a lot of reps at safety,” Hamilton said via the Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “I didn’t get a ton of reps at safety last year, just in terms of the room that we had and the positions I was playing and what positions I was put in. But yes, there’s still a lot to learn, for me, back there at that position at this level, given the lack of experience I had last year. But like I said, I’m learning new stuff every day, making new mistakes and getting more comfortable day by day.”

Hamilton will still spend plenty of time closer to the line of scrimmage as the Ravens ask a lot of their safeties. It just won’t be exclusively in the slot like he was as a rookie. 

“He’s not going to be ‘the nickel,’ per se. He’ll be a safety,” Ravens HC John Harbaugh said. “A traditional safety role is probably not in our defense, because we move our guys around. Our safeties are rushing the passer, they’re playing linebacker, they’re running from on the line of scrimmage back to the deep middle. We do a lot with those guys, so the fact that he’s able to do all that really helps us be who we want to be on defense.”

Steelers

Steelers G Isaac Seumalo is glad to join Pittsburgh given they have a “winning culture” similar to what he had with the Eagles. 

“I know it hasn’t been recently, but there is a big winning culture here,” Seumalo said, via SteelersWire. “The fan base is similar to where I was the last couple years. Coach Tomlin is everything that his reputation from the outside suggests; being close to him, he’s been like that. And obviously the offense, the o-line room and the opportunity there has been really good.”