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The moment you’ve all been waiting is upon us, Patriots fans: the DeAndre Hopkins Sweepstakes appear to be open.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweeted that Hopkins, one of the best receivers in football over the last decade, will likely be made available for trade by the Arizona Cardinals, who suddenly look like a rebuilding franchise.
Cardinals reporter Johnny Venerable suggested Arizona could seek a first-round pick for the 30-year-old receiver, who had a strong 2022, before ultimately making him available for a Day 2 pick.
Hopkins’ status as an alpha receiver in the NFL combined with his mutual bromance with Bill Belichick has ramped up the desire among Patriots fans to see the team trade for Hopkins, who has two years left on his current deal with the Cards. After all, it would mark the type of Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs/Jalen Hurts-A.J. Brown/Tua Tagovailoa-Tyreek Hill investment that could theoretically make Mac Jones’ third year a breakout.
From an on-field perspective, it’s hard to argue with that hope. He’s DeAndre Hopkins, after all.
He’s eclipsed 1,000 yards six times in his career and has been a three-time First-Team All Pro. Hopkins even put up an absurd 717 yards receiving in just nine games this past season after missing the start of the year due to a PED suspension.
Most impressively, he showed he could produce with any quarterback he worked with, from Matt Schaub to Case Keenum to Deshaun Watson to Colt McCoy. Basically, if you can stand on two legs and throw a football, he can put up numbers with you.
Hopkins can win inside, outside, with route-running or physicality, over the top or underneath. His oven-mitt hands rarely let footballs hit the ground. Quarterbacks have a career passer rating of 97.9 when targeting him, which is astounding given some of the C-list talent that has thrown him the football in his 10 seasons.
What more could you want for a young quarterback who badly needs a top-notch weapon to help him get to the next level as a passer?
Now, there are a few hang-ups to get out of the way.
First, he will be 31 years old when next season begins and will be entering his 11th NFL campaign. There’s always concern about how much longer a player with that many miles on him will last. His game is predicated more on finesse than explosiveness anyway, so that’s not the issue. Injuries and perhaps a waning of his leaping ability could matter, though.
Then, there’s getting him to (and keeping him in) New England.
Hopkins has a full no-trade in his contract, which means he’ll have to pre-approve and therefore has plenty of leverage in the discussion. As much as he loves and respects Belichick, it’s worth wondering if he might look at their situation and find it lacking compared to others, especially after this past season’s dysfunction on offense.
Also, though the Patriots could easily take on the $34 million remaining on his current contract with the Cardinals, Hopkins may want new money when he heads to his new location. Though he might not command as much as Davante Adams or Tyreek Hill at this point, he’ll still likely want a $20 million-per-year payday at the least. Belichick probably would want him on a new deal as well but in the opposite direction. So the willingness to give Hopkins new paper might factor into whether he’d agree to come to New England in the first place should it make an offer.
Assuming Hopkins will ultimately become available for a Day 2 pick, the Patriots should absolutely test the waters and try to get him to Foxborough. The team could have as many as 11 picks (including comp picks) in the upcoming NFL Draft and should either use them to trade up for talent or make a move exactly like this one.
The player in question is definitely worth it, even if it’s only for a couple of seasons. But Belichick might have to buck his own trend of refusing to let one player eat up a significant chunk of the payroll, which he’d have to do for Hopkins for at least a year or two.
If the Patriots truly want to evaluate Mac Jones and see if they can do anything meaningful during his rookie contract, these are the moves you have to make eventually. Just look at what the Bills, Eagles and Dolphins did for their quarterbacks heading into their third seasons and what it did for their careers.
Even if it didn’t work out with Jones, the Patriots will at least have given it an honest look and could get out of Hopkins’ contract relatively soon. Or maybe he could even be around for whoever comes next at quarterback if it comes to that.