Sunday turned into a bad day for the New England Patriots.

Reports started flying left and right early in the afternoon that DeAndre Hopkins was choosing the Titans over the Patriots in free agency with camps around the league set to start next week. Tennessee is giving Hopkins a 2-year, $26 million dollar deal with incentives while reports had the Patriots significantly under that.

Now, was Hopkins ultimately always going to go to the highest bidder? Definitely, but that’s not an excuse. With the Pats in desperate need of buzz and Mac Jones still needing a true No. 1 wide receiver, there should never have been a scenario where the Patriots were out-bid. No matter what it took, the organization couldn’t afford to handle this negotiation like so many others in the past, yet they still did. The chirping abut the Patriots being cheap is only going to get louder now.

Speaking of Mac, this also highlights just how bad the Patricia/Judge situation screwed the team last year and still is this year. If Jones has even a good to decent second season instead of a massive regression, maybe Hopkins factors in the QB situation a little more while making his decision. The Titans currently have Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis and Will Levis. You can’t legitimately sit here and say Mac isn’t as good as any of those guys, but after how ugly last season was, Jones and the Patriots offense didn’t make the decision a tough one for Hopkins. It also doesn’t hurt that Hopkins has a good relationship with Tennessee OC Tim Kelley, while the uncertainty around his relationship with Bill O’Brien had to come into play at least a little.

At one point during the beginning of this process, Hopkins said he wanted steady management, a good QB and a solid defense. All things considered, the Patriots probably had a slight advantage over the Titans when it comes to all of those things combined. So, does this roster – particularly the defense – use it as a snub and motivation? Maybe. But, if you’re a player on the roster and you see that Hopkins got less than OBJ when he’s actually been playing and not rehabbing and the Krafts and/or Bill Belichick couldn’t match it, how do you not question how serious the organization is about being a title contender?

A lot of people believe this offense can still contend if Bill O’Brien does what we all think Bill O’Brien can do, and I’m one of them. However, you can’t look at the Pats right now and not be a little worried. Players no longer want to come here just because of Bill Belichick. Players no longer want to come here for “the best chance at a ring,’ and players don’t want to come here to play with Mac Jones.

That could all change with a big, ‘prove it’ season, but Hopkins’ decision is just another reminder that we are a long, long way from the dynasty days.