Best Fits for WR DeAndre Hopkins
DeAndre Hopkins is most likely not going to be an Arizona Cardinal next season. In fact, Jordan Schultz of theScore said Hopkins is likely to be traded by the team.
When Arizona gave Hopkins, 31, a contract to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league in 2020, they backloaded the contract. This means that the most he will earn from the Cardinals deal will be in 2023 and 2024.
By cutting or trading Hopkins after June 1, the Cardinals could save $19.4 million just in 2023 alone, per Arizona Sports and Spotrac.
Hopkins was still productive in 2022, but he didn’t play the first six games of the season due to a PED suspension. He also only had his quarterback Kyler Murray for four games this year. Even with this, Hopkins managed 64 catches for 717 yards and three touchdowns.
While they might still want Hopkins for the purposes of keeping Murray happy, they likely will be stripping down that roster with a new general manager and head coach tandem.
If Arizona decides to offload Hopkins, here’s where I think the All-Pro’s best fits would be.
Chicago Bears
The Bears are going to have the most cap space in the NFL this offseason, so they can certainly afford Hopkins’ service.
Chicago is desperate last season for weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Their leading receiver last season was Cole Kmet, who had a poultry 544 yards total.
Justin Fields is likely here to stay, and what better pairing for a young quarterback than to have an elite wide receiver that he can count on big plays and third downs? Hopkins has been that throughout his career.
You can argue that Fields could potentially be the second-best quarterback Hopkins has ever played with (which is saying a lot about the quarterback Hopkins is used to catching balls from).
Baltimore Ravens
Look, the Baltimore Ravens need to lock up Lamar Jackson before they do anything else. No one will want to play for the Ravens unless No. 8 is doing his thing in purple and black.
So, what does this mean for Hopkins? If the Ravens do decide to keep Jackson, Hopkins will be a perfect fit in Baltimore.
Baltimore has been a receiver away for a while now. They aren’t desperate for the position since they have Mark Andrews and others, but they haven’t seen a true WR1 in years. They were still 28th in passing offense last season, although without Jackson for several weeks.
It’ll only work as a fit with the Ravens if Lamar Jackson decides to stay.
New England Patriots
When was the last time New England had an uber-reliable pass-catching wide receiver? The time is now for the Patriots. $45.2 million in cap space really helps.
Mac Jones majorly regressed in 2022. He could desperately use some help on that offense in the weapons category.
Matt Patricia and Joe Judge running an offense? Yea, that is just bad. It showed when they finished 26th in offense. The Pats learned from their mistakes and hired an actual offensive coordinator this time around in Alabama’s Bill O’Brien.
O’Brien was with the Texans and Hopkins in what seems like a century ago in the NFL world. It’s hard to know whether O’Brien being in New England would help or hurt Hopkins chance of ending up in New England.
The Pats might be the most desperate team on this list to land Hopkins. They need to make major changes before the team collapses in on itself.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville might be hungry for yet another weapon to add to their offense.
Marvin Jones Jr. and Evan Engram are both slated to be free agents this upcoming offseason. They still have Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, so I believe Hopkins would be a good fit with Jacksonville as a top pass catcher.
However, I don’t see this one as likely because the Jags are in cap hell. They rank third to last in the NFL currently at $32 million in the hole. They’ll need to clear out a ton of cap space if they even want a shot at Hopkins.
Through this all, Hopkins might want to be a Jaguar above all else.
“The top two destinations for him [are] Jacksonville to play with [head coach Doug] Pederson and [Trevor] Lawrence and then the Chargers obviously with the chance to play with Justin Herbert. He looks at those as good possibilities,” according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.
Los Angeles Chargers
This brings us to the next Hopkins best fit: the Los Angeles Chargers. Much like Jacksonville, they deal with cap issues in 2023, ranking 27th in the league. Hopkins’ services could pair perfectly in that offense though.
Who wouldn’t want to catch passes from Justin Herbert for years to come? Hopkins would, as said earlier, LA is on Hopkins’ short list of squads he’d want to play for.
I think there’s a good chance of this one. The Chargers are dealing with cap issues but would love to have Hopkins. They need anything to further their chances of knocking on the Chiefs’ door in 2023.
Debriefing
These are my best fits for DeAndre Hopkins. While I think some squads have better chances than others to pay Hopkins for his services, he might want to explore his options in player-friendly cities like Jacksonville or LA.
If I had to pick a fit for Hopkins, I’d want him to land in LA. I think that’s where he really wants to be and I think he could thrive there.
There are some other teams with a shot at Hopkins: New York Giants, Detroit Lions, or Green Bay Packers being among the crowd.
Watch out for New England though. I have a feeling they’ll push hard for Hopkins.
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