DeAndre Hopkins wasn't the Chiefs Plan A, but money got in the way

The Kansas City Chiefs had an urgency to make a move for a wide receiver. Not only are Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and Rashee Rice done for the regular season, but they watched JuJu Smith-Schuster exit the team's Week 7 game against the San Francisco 49ers early due to a hamstring injury. In fact, Smith-Schuster was already ruled out for Week 8 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

On early Wednesday morning, the Chiefs pulled off a trade with the Tennessee Titans to acquire DeAndre Hopkins in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick. This was a long time coming for the Chiefs, as they have been linked to Hopkins for quite some time but were unable to sign him as a free agent. Now, they acquire him in a trade, and the Titans are eating some of his salary.

But Hopkins wasn't the Chiefs' first choice, as it turns out.

According to The Athletic's senior NFL insider Dianna Russini, the Chiefs were in discussions with the Los Angeles Rams for wide receiver Cooper Kupp. However, the Chiefs were looking for a team that was willing to take on a "large chunk of the salary" for the wide receiver, and they didn't want to give up high draft picks. So, they pivoted to the Titans and got Hopkins on the cheap in terms of draft capital and pay.

Chiefs were interested in Cooper Kupp before pivoting to DeAndre Hopkins

Wide receivers have been on the move so far ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline. The New York Jets acquired Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders and the Buffalo Bills dealt for Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns. One of the more surprising names to come up in trade reports was Kupp.

Russini and The Athletic colleagues Jourdan Rodrigue and Mike Silver reported on Tuesday that the Rams were calling teams about potentially acquiring Kupp, the Super Bowl 56 MVP. The report indicates that the Rams are willing to eat some of Kupp's salary in 2024, but are looking for a second-round pick in return.

This season, Kupp is earning $15 million in salary. At this point, according to multiple outlets, still has more than $9 million owed to him. Kupp has two years remaining on his three-year, $80.1 million deal, and will hit free agency after the 2026 season.

Kupp only played two games this season after suffering an ankle injury in Week 2. But now, he is on track to play in Week 8 against the Minnesota Vikings. Kupp has 18 receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown to his credit.

With $9 million left to pay this season, the Chiefs deemed that to be too much, considering their current cap space situation. So, they opted against bringing in Kupp and pivoted to Hopkins instead.