Matt Johnson
DeAndre Hopkins met with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots shortly after being released by the Arizona Cardinals. Now, the All-Pro wide receiver is poised to take the next step in the free agency process.
Arizona released Hopkins this offseason after being unable to find a trade partner for him. While multiple NFL teams were connected with an interest in Hopkins, he only took visits with New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans this month.
- DeAndre Hopkins stats (career): 853 receptions, 11,298 receiving yards, 71 touchdowns
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More than a week after he met with both franchises, visiting coaches he knew from his time with the Houston Texans, the market for the five-time Pro Bowl selection went quiet. Now, there’s finally an update on where things stand for the 31-year-old receiver.
During an appearance on ESPN’s NFL Live, reporter Dianna Russini shared that Hopkins is weighing the offers he received from both the Titans and the Patriots. However, neither offer is what he’s looking for at this time and he’ll take time before making a decision, hoping patience leads to more teams expressing interest.
“His sales job continues, trying to get more teams interested in him. Right now, we know there are only two teams that have had DeAndre Hopkins come to their facility…I was told by sources close to the situation that Hopkins is going over some of those offers from both those teams, the Titans and the Patriots, he’s mulling over and trying to come up with a decision of what he wants to do. I was told to be very patient here, this isn’t something that’s going to go down in the next 48 hours.”
NFL insider Dianna Russini with the latest on DeAndre Hopkins
It’s a reasonable approach for the NFL veteran to take based on how things have unfolded this offseason. Neither the Kansas City Chiefs nor the Buffalo Bills, two teams connected to Hopkins following his release, have the cap space to sign him.
Buffalo is now viewed as unlikely to sign Hopkins, but there’s still an outside chance Kansas City could revisit it if it signs Chris Jones to a contract extension to create cap room in 2023.
Related: New England Patriots insider hints at likelihood of DeAndre Hopkins signing
Another factor at play is Hopkins’ asking price. Reports this spring have made it clear that money is a priority in a new deal, with Hopkins viewing the Odell Beckham Jr contract as the precedent for his financial demands. With no NFL team willing to approach that figure, though, Hopkins will be on the open market for a while.
