NFL rumors: The latest on DeAndre Hopkins’ free agency entering the weekend
By John Buhler
DeAndre Hopkins does not plan to sign with any NFL franchise until right before training camp, per the latest NFL Rumors.
Although we are still a month out from star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins putting pen to paper to sign with a new NFL team, he did leave us a few breadcrumbs as to where he could be heading.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported last week that Hopkins conducted in-house visits with both the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots. While Hopkins is in no rush to sign with a new team, Reiss’ ESPN colleague Dianna Russini reported it is probably going to come down to one of the two teams he met with in mid-June. She does not anticipate this happening overnight either…
By linking up with either the Patriots or the Titans, Hopkins could help amplify their receiving corps to make a serious playoff push next season. Neither AFC franchise qualified for them a year ago.
Video: “Hopkins is going over some of the offers from both of those teams, the Titans and the Patriots. He’s mulling over and trying to come out with a decision with what he wants to do, and I was told to be very patient here."pic.twitter.com/6dZboh0oJz
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 22, 2023
Given that Hopkins has only played for NFL teams like the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals previously, you can understand the allure of going to places like Foxborough, or even Nashville.
DeAndre Hopkins NFL rumors: Latest on the former All-Pro wide receiver
Look. I don’t really think either place is all that great right now, but frankly, anything is better than Arizona. While Kyler Murray is a better quarterback over Mac Jones and Ryan Tannehill, I would rather trust the back-end of my career to Bill Belichick or Mike Vrabel over a first-time head coach in Jonathan Gannon. New England might be the front-runner, but don’t sleep on the Titans either…
The idea of going to New England would be for Hopkins to reunite with his former Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, who is coming back to Foxborough to be the Patriots’ offensive coordinator after an up-and-down two-year run with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Hopkins, Jones and O’Brien all know the offense they would be running to a T. The upside here would be to make the playoffs.
As far as Tennessee is concerned, the Titans are a division rival of the Texans. Vrabel may have played for Belichick, but he was on O’Brien’s staff in Houston prior to taking over the operation in Nashville. The Titans may be on the downswing in their competitive life cycle, but there is plenty of good remaining in the building. Plus, the AFC South is a more winnable division than the AFC East.
Look for Hopkins to come to a decision on whether he wants to play next season by next month.
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