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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brother:
Oof did you miss us against Tampa scoring 9?
Did you miss the PS OL we put in front of Mahomes? You seriously think we score 9 points if even 3 of our starting OL was on the field?
How about the fact that our receivers, including Hill, inexplicably allowed multiple passes to hit them in the facemask? Several for what would've been TDs?
Hell, we played the Bucs this season with this OL and punked them for over 40 points. Could've been 50+, but we shut it down.
Seriously, were you paying attention to the fact that our entire starting OL didn't play in that game? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Reerun_KC:
You guaranteeing 3-5 years of HOF play without injury? I’d you can promise that. Then maybe.
2 years. Likely 2 Super Bowls, which are possible without him but probable with him. Everyone gets rings. No new deal. Then off he goes and we get a comp. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks:
2 years. Likely 2 Super Bowls, which are possible without him but probable with him. Everyone gets rings. Then off he goes and we get a comp.
Yeah, if we can afford him, this seems likely. Two years of insanely good offense, a couple rings, and then DHop rides off to his next team or whatever. We'd never be able to afford him long-term. [Reply]
I would take DHop in a heartbeat IF he wants a Championship Ring more than $$ which means he is willing to play ball financially. This dude is a pure "BALLER" and sooooooooo CLUTCH!. Now all this talk that he is old I beg to differ to some degree. He left the Texans in his prime for AZ and was not used properly primarily because Kyler Murray is Kyler Murray. IMO he still has a lot of miles still left on those wheels and is hungry. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jerryaldini:
From a fan perspective we haven't talked about the fact that Mahomes is at the peak of his aging curve. This is prime Mahomes right now. Throw in Kelce nearing the end of being elite and Andy's uncertain duration.
Let's not waste this very unique two year window without Pat having a first tier weapon on the outside, whether it's Dhop or someone else.
I agree. I dont think people realize how pivotal Kelce is. The next two years we need to go for it. You actually can give stuff up for 2025 and beyond because of how good Mahomes is. Maybe you can get lucky in those years beyond Kelce. you cant count on getting a Top 3 TE in league history again. Getting a real #1 WR is a huge priority for this team. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Yeah, if we can afford him, this seems likely. Two years of insanely good offense, a couple rings, and then DHop rides off to his next team or whatever. We'd never be able to afford him long-term.
We can afford a top 5 WR for 2 years at $17M AAV. And we can afford the picks.
I'm usually against these types of moves but this guy is an exception. He was on my FF team + I live down here so I watched every game he played and watched him closely. You can't cover him outside. Patrick has a knack for revitalizing guys, and it's time we take the load off him and give him a #1 for 2 seasons for $13M/yr less than Tyreek wanted. DHop would put up MONSTER numbers with Mahomes, Reid, and Kelce. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks:
We can afford a top 5 WR for 2 years at $17M AAV. And we can afford the picks.
I'm usually against these types of moves but this guy is an exception. He was on my FF team + I live down here so I watched every game he played and watched him closely. You can't cover him outside. Patrick has a knack for revitalizing guys, and it's time we take the load off him and give him a #1 for 2 seasons for $13M/yr less than Tyreek wanted. DHop would put up MONSTER numbers with Mahomes, Reid, and Kelce.
Yeah, I'm up here in Anthem, so I've watched a lot of DHop. He's still incredible. Went to two ARI games this season, one last season, so got to see him in person, and he's still a beast.
And I agree that it'd be nice to have that type of receiver to take some of the pressure off Mahomes.
And Kelce for that matter. Kelce ain't getting any younger, and the last three seasons we've watched him kind of pace himself through the last quarter or so of the season, until the playoffs. Letting someone else take the bag every few games , or even every other, might add a year or two to his career. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Yeah, I'm up here in Anthem, so I've watched a lot of DHop. He's still incredible. Went to two ARI games this season, one last season, so got to see him in person, and he's still a beast.
And I agree that it'd be nice to have that type of receiver to take some of the pressure off Mahomes.
And Kelce for that matter. Kelce ain't getting any younger, and the last three seasons we've watched him kind of pace himself through the last quarter or so of the season, until the playoffs. Letting someone else take the bag every few games , or even every other, might add a year or two to his career.
Maybe I imagined it, but it almost seemed like Murray got jealous of all the attention DHop got after he came back from suspension. Seemed like he started trying to freeze him out. I thought DHop looked just as good if not better with McCoy when Murray went down for a couple games. Then Murray came back and he and DHop got into that spat on the sidelines. I'm going to give DHop the benefit of the doubt on that one since everyone knows what a bitch Murray is. Then Murray tore his ACL and they were just playing out the string.
Give DHop a QB like Patrick with Reid scheming and he'd go nuts. [Reply]
In my excitement of having and other decade+ of Mahomes, I honestly hadn’t considered the sub-window of Mahomes + Kelce together at maximum velocity. I figure it is 2-3 years, when Kelce slows down or bows out for a media career.
Couple that window with Reid’s age/health as another overlapping factor, I don’t mind us taking big swings (like this one) this off-season and next. I think our Tyreek move + awesome draft haul bought us that luxury, if Veach is on board.
Don’t overpay in comp or cap, and ensure we draft for well again this year, and let’s roll. [Reply]
Hopkins is a killer on the field so of course it would never work with an entitled excuse maker like Kyler.
We were able to flip Tyreek because Maheid doesn't need 2 stud pass catchers to win a SB.
It would be fun to experience but I don't love the thought of having to replace Hopkins and Kelce at the same time but we got Vert Breach backfilling so if he's on board then you KNOW I am. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks:
Maybe I imagined it, but it almost seemed like Murray got jealous of all the attention DHop got after he came back from suspension. Seemed like he started trying to freeze him out. I thought DHop looked just as good if not better with McCoy when Murray went down for a couple games. Then Murray came back and he and DHop got into that spat on the sidelines. I'm going to give DHop the benefit of the doubt on that one since everyone knows what a bitch Murray is. Then Murray tore his ACL and they were just playing out the string.
Give DHop a QB like Patrick with Reid scheming and he'd go nuts.
Yeah, that might be a thing. And I almost feel bad for DHop at this point, which is kind of funny because I know that DHop can be a little bit of a douche and he was a Texan, but you can see how much he wants to win, and how frustrated he's become with Murray and I think Kingsbury's offense as well. But mostly he just hates losing.
Playing with Andy, Pat and Kelce? He'd feel like it was Christmas every single week. Play to win, but not have to carry the load to make it happen? Not sure he's ever been in that situation. [Reply]