The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl without a star wide receiver, but they could reportedly make an elite offense even scarier by acquiring DeAndre Hopkins.
NFL insider Benjamin Albright told PHNX Cardinals that Kansas City is the "primary suitor" for Hopkins. He doesn't know the draft compensation the Cardinals would receive, but he said it's more likely they get a second-round pick than a first.
After the 2022 season, theScore's Jordan Schultz reported that the Cardinals plan to trade Hopkins this offseason.
Arizona hired a new general manager and head coach after a disappointing four-win season, and Hopkins is set to make $19.45 million (with a $30.75 million cap hit) in 2023. The Cardinals could seek a clean slate by moving the three-time All-Pro wideout, who turns 31 in June.
Hopkins began his Cardinals career by tallying 1,407 yards and six touchdowns in 2020. However, multiple lower body injuries limited him to 10 games in 2021, and he served a six-game suspension to start the 2022 season for violating the NFL's PED policy.
Yet he remains an impact player when on the field. Hopkins totaled 474 receiving yards in six full games with quarterback Kyler Murray last season.
Now imagine what he can accomplish when catching passes from Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs flourished without a star replacement for Tyreek Hill, but they could still benefit by solidifying the position this offseason. JuJu Smith-Schuster is a free agent after garnering 78 catches for 933 yards on a one-year deal. The depth chart features several talented question marks in Mecole Hardman, Kadarius Toney, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Adding Hopkins could be great news for Kansas City, but terrible for all opposing defenses.
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Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Catching 5 yard passes from Patrick Mahomes is hard stuff.
But it is a part of what is needed in the offense. Unless you slept on a iceberg for 2021. The deep threat alone with Kelce doesn't bring championships any more. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Abba-Dabba:
DHop is a YAC monster at 2.6
Juju must be other worldly with a 6.0yac.
Lol, again with the single season stat. And wow, let's take the worst season as well. I guess we don't even have to bother with context either. Like, which player saw double coverage every snap, or which was the only receiver the defense cared about, or who was throwing passes to the receiver . . . keep living in your fishbowl, bud :-) [Reply]
No , I think that hamstringing yourself to a large contract, like over 20million for a WR will make the offense less diverse and more easily defendable. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Abba-Dabba:
No , I think that hamstringing yourself to a large contract, like over 20million for a WR will make the offense less diverse and more easily defendable.
Nobody here is wanting DHop with an expensive extension. Pretty much everybody has said they want him to play on his existing deal, which is dirt cheap for a guy of his caliber and only slightly more than JJSS could fetch on the open market. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Abba-Dabba:
But it is a part of what is needed in the offense. Unless you slept on a iceberg for 2021. The deep threat alone with Kelce doesn't bring championships any more.
IIRC, the Chiefs had more downfield plays of 20+ yards than anyone season other than Mahomes Rookie year. (May have even surpassed that, i don't recall exactly). And it sure as fuck wasn't from JJSS winning over the top.
I'm sure Hopkins could manage little 5-10 yard checkdown passes, but then actually present a legit threat against man coverage unlike JuJu. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Nobody here is wanting DHop with an expensive extension. Pretty much everybody has said they want him to play on his existing deal, which is dirt cheap for a guy of his caliber and only slightly more than JJSS could fetch on the open market.
You could probably get that for a year, but if he goes out there and catches 115 balls for 1700 yards and 13 tds yea dude is gonna want some money. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Abba-Dabba:
No , I think that hamstringing yourself to a large contract, like over 20million for a WR will make the offense less diverse and more easily defendable.
The offense isn't more diverse because we no longer have Hill. It's more diverse because Mahomes made it more diverse.
It's not like the Chiefs went out and spent all this money on the WR group. They spent peanuts on MVS and JJSS and then relied on guys with cheap rookie contracts.
Adding a Hopkins doesn't take away from the diversity so long as Andy and Mahomes keep doing what they're doing.
It just means you get a lot more out of your WR by Committee approach, and we can now create some advantages when teams think they can just lock our guys up in man coverage. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
You could probably get that for a year, but if he goes out there and catches 115 balls for 1700 yards and 13 tds yea dude is gonna want some money.
If they keep him on his existing contract, that won't be an issue. They could also structure an extension to make it possible, as well. [Reply]
It's not like, "Oh shit, they signed Dhop. I guess they can no longer afford Moore and KT's rookie contracts. Welp there goes our offensive diversity!". [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
You could probably get that for a year, but if he goes out there and catches 115 balls for 1700 yards and 13 tds yea dude is gonna want some money.
And we win the bowl again and he can get paid elsewhere. [Reply]
