By Dianna Russini, Nate Taylor and Joe Rexrode
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs acquired extensive receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans, a league supply mentioned Wednesday, a transfer supposed to bolster the defending Tremendous Bowl champions’ injury-plagued receiving corps with a five-time Professional Bowler.
Tennessee will obtain a conditional draft decide — a fifth-rounder that might grow to be a fourth if the Chiefs make the Tremendous Bowl and if Hopkins performs 60 % of the workforce’s snaps — within the deal, based on a league supply. The Titans pays $2.5 million of Hopkins’ remaining $8 million wage.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Hopkins was on his approach to Kansas Metropolis. The hope is to get him able to play Sunday in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders, per league sources.
The Chiefs, who goal to be the primary three-peat champion in NFL historical past, are off to a 6-0 begin and are the league’s final undefeated workforce. However the vaunted passing assault led by two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes may use the assistance at extensive receiver. Mahomes is averaging a career-low 231.5 passing yards per recreation and has six touchdowns to eight interceptions. Accidents have sidelined their high three extensive receivers — Rashee Rice, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. In Sunday’s 28-18 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas Metropolis’s extensive receivers mixed for simply 5 receptions on 12 targets.
The Chiefs additionally mentioned star receiver Cooper Kupp with the Los Angeles Rams, workforce sources mentioned, however Kansas Metropolis wanted to commerce with a workforce that was prepared to tackle a big chunk of the participant’s wage and didn’t need to hand over excessive picks. Tennessee was the workforce prepared to play ball. Hopkins, 32, is within the remaining season of a two-year, $26 million deal.
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Hopkins may strengthen Kansas Metropolis’s extensive receiving corps and shake off a sluggish begin to his season on the similar time. He has simply 15 receptions for 173 yards and one landing in six video games. After struggling a sprained knee within the preseason, Hopkins had his snap depend restricted early within the season. He performed lower than half of the Titans’ offensive snaps of their first 4 video games, however that quantity elevated to 71 % and 60 % the previous two weeks. Nonetheless, as Tennessee’s offense sputtered, he caught one go for minus-2 yards in Sunday’s 34-10 loss to the Buffalo Payments. The Titans, at 1-5, have only a 1 % probability to make the playoffs, based on The Athletic’s Austin Mock.
Hopkins has seven 1,000-yard seasons in his 12-year NFL profession, together with 4 in a row from 2017 to 2020.
What Hopkins brings to the Chiefs
The Chiefs needed to make this transfer, which can create extra margin of error for his or her offense forward of the postseason.
The Chiefs don’t want a famous person receiver. Mahomes has proved he can win championships with out one. Mahomes does, nevertheless, want one other motivated, viable and dependable receiver to assist him maintain the Chiefs offense. Hopkins might be that receiver based mostly on his route-running means and success in creating yards after the catch.
With out Hopkins, the Chiefs have been going to enter this week’s recreation in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders with a gaggle of receivers — Justin Watson, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore and rookie Xavier Worthy — who’ve mixed to generate 27 receptions for 343 yards and two touchdowns. — Nate Taylor, Chiefs author
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The Titans are acknowledging a rebuild after an offseason of huge spending
Titans basic supervisor Ran Carthon operated within the offseason like a man who believed he may put collectively a aggressive workforce in 2024, signing Calvin Ridley to a long-term deal to pair with Hopkins, buying and selling for cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, signing heart Lloyd Cushenberry and operating again Tony Pollard to assist the offense and including cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, linebacker Kenneth Murray and linebacker Ernest Jones IV to assist the protection.
Nicely, the Titans have a shot on the No. 1 decide within the 2025 draft, and a selloff has begun.
A lot of this may be defined by the struggles of second-year quarterback Will Levis. However not all of it. The Titans seem aimless and are 7-21 since GM Jon Robinson was fired halfway by way of the 2022 season. — Joe Rexrode, senior author
Hopkins bucked the Titans’ underwhelming veteran receiver historical past
Randy Moss, Andre Johnson and Julio Jones are three all-time greats at receiver who have been effectively previous their greatest by the point they acquired to Nashville, so there was skepticism when the Titans went the place nobody else would go along with Hopkins — two years, $26 million — within the 2023 offseason. However Hopkins bucked historical past with 75 catches for 1,057 yards and 7 touchdowns in a nasty offense final season. He had sturdy chemistry instantly with Levis.
A knee damage price Hopkins a lot of camp and the Titans eased him into this season, however it was shocking to see no obvious carryover of that chemistry with Levis as soon as Hopkins was wholesome sufficient to play full video games. — Rexrode
Required studying
(Picture: Carmen Mandato / Getty Photos)
