Chiefs Trade for DeAndre Hopkins: Assessing the Move and What’s Next for KC’s Offense
Did the Kansas City Chiefs pay a fair price to acquire wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins? What can the 32-year-old veteran bring to the KC offense?
The Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly agreed to terms with the Tennessee Titans on a trade to send veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City as the reigning back-to-back champions look to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive championships.
After losing Rashee Rice and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown early in the year, the Chiefs’ receiver room took another hit when JuJu Smith-Schuster exited in the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. On Monday, head coach Andy Reid proactively ruled Smith-Schuster out for Week 8. Most of the NFL world expected the Chiefs to add a pass catcher, but did they make the right decision (and pay a fair price) by acquiring Hopkins?
Joshua Brisco: The Chiefs absolutely had to make a move at wide receiver for the sake of their chance at making NFL history, but my initial reaction to the news this morning was genuine surprise. I had held out hope that the best-case scenario would be a move for Carolina Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, while the most likely move would be an underwhelming reunion with Los Angeles Rams receiver Demarcus Robinson. After years of off-and-on Hopkins-to-KC discussion and with the team’s reported preference for younger options, I didn’t expect to see the 32-year-old Hopkins be Kansas City’s big splash.
Jordan Foote: Same here – I definitely didn’t expect Hopkins to be the move. Sure, the Chiefs had prior interest in him, although this just didn’t seem like a very likely solution given his combination of age, recent injury history and contract. In Kansas City’s case, though, they’re desperate enough to bank on an aging vet and Hopkins has looked respectable despite playing through a knee ailment early in the year. Additionally, the Titans eating some of his base salary for the rest of the year is what makes this swap possible. All of that coming together at the same time simply never looked too likely, but the Chiefs will be better because of it.
Hopkins quite obviously isn’t in his prime anymore, but it seems that some folks are brushing his 2023-24 campaign under the rug. He played in every regular-season game for Tennessee and hauled in 75 passes for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. He won against man coverage (as he always does) and was efficient against zone, too. He did it with a quarterback that pales in comparison to Patrick Mahomes. I get that Hopkins isn’t the typical style of wideout the Chiefs go for but if he’s even 75-80% of the player we saw a season ago, isn’t that a clear win despite the inherent risks?
Brisco: From what we know about the price tag from Peter Schrager of NFL Media, The baseline is, reportedly, a fifth-round pick that could escalate to a fourth-round pick based on playing time and a Super Bowl appearance. If those conditions must both be met, the Chiefs would either be giving up a late fifth-rounder or one of the final picks of the fourth round, where they’d be selecting if they do return to the Super Bowl. If Hopkins stabilizes the three-peat campaign, an end-of-fourth-round pick is a pittance to pay. If Hopkins can’t move the needle or gets bit by the injury bug himself, the Chiefs lost a late fifth-rounder on the gamble. Even as a lover of draft picks and rookie contracts, that price doesn’t bother me one bit.
Those Titans uniforms essentially work as camouflage for NFL fans — it’s easy to miss the highlights when Will Levis or Ryan Tannehill are delivering the ball. To your point, Hopkins is a unique receiver for Mahomes, but he has been one of the most quarterback-friendly receivers in this era of football, and that still shows up on tape. He doesn’t have any experience in Andy Reid’s offense, but his football IQ has been evident for more than a decade, and his ability to snag any pass within his zip code borders on extraterrestrial. As the Chiefs have already had to note for players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kareem Hunt, Hopkins no longer has the speed and unstoppable physical tools of his youth, but that’s far from disqualifying. He immediately becomes the best healthy wide receiver on the roster, Skyy Moore can return to the bench, and Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce don’t have to be the 21-year-old and 35-year-old saviors of the passing game alone any longer.
Foote: That last point contextualizing what Hopkins can do for everyone else is huge. Him simply being on the field can have a ripple effect on players like Worthy (being able to spend more time back in the slot), Smith-Schuster (potentially seeing less attention and, perhaps, getting a breather or two) and Moore (being strictly depth). It also allows Kansas City to maximize Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman by fine-tuning their roles. Kelce will love working off of someone like Hopkins.
Where do the Chiefs go from here? My immediate vibe check is that they stand pat with what they have and hope Smith-Schuster gets over his hamstring injury quickly and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown returns for the playoffs. That’s fine, but it’s hard to not think about a low-cost move for someone like Robinson. Is there room to add one more somewhat proven wideout to the mix? It’d be a lot all at once, albeit completely justifiable.
