NFL rumors: Patriots interest in DeAndre Hopkins sounds overplayed

A new report should cause New England Patriots fans to pump the brakes on any chance of the team trading for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

With the 2023 NFL year set to officially begin on Wednesday, March 15, teams will be looking to improve positions of weakness on their rosters. For wide receiver-needy teams, the free agency class isn’t necessarily the greatest, which could lead teams to head for the trading block. Perhaps the biggest wide receiver available is DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals.

There have been teams linked to Hopkins in potential trades this offseason, with the New England Patriots being one of them. But what are the actual chances that they land him in a trade?

According to PHNX Sports reporter Howard Balzer, a source from the Patriots said that unless the Cardinals are going to “give him away and Hopkins is willing to play on a reduced contract,” they could see a trade happening. If not, the source said that a trade for Hopkins “seems unlikely.”

Patriots trade for DeAndre Hopkins reportedly ‘unlikely’

Well, that’s not something the Patriots fanbase wanted to hear.

This past season, New England’s offense had a massive drop-off in production. That can be credited to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels leaving to become the Las Vegas Raiders head coach after the 2021 season, and he was replaced by Matt Patricia as play-caller.

The Patriots averaged 314.6 yards of total offense (26th in NFL) and 21.4 points (17th) per game this past season.

This offseason, New England moved on from Patricia as play-caller and brought in Bill O’Brien as their new offensive coordinator. Of course, O’Brien was Hopkins’ former head coach when he played for the Houston Texans. Hopkins and O’Brien do have a bit of a rocky relationship, which came to light after the head coach/general manager traded him to the Cardinals ahead of the 2020 season.

At the start of the league year, the Patriots could lose Jakobi Meyers in free agency, who is among the best available at his position. So, New England will need to add to their depth chart. As for the chances of it being Hopkins, this latest report makes it sound unlikely.