A DeAndre Hopkins trade has been a long time coming, and recent rumors suggest that the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs are the two teams left fighting for his services.
#Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins could be getting traded to the #Chiefs or #Bills “tonight or tomorrow”, according to @REALPACMAN24 on the @PatMcAfeeShow pic.twitter.com/RjDqAR0YUQ
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 26, 2023
Chiefs, Bills the Two Finalists in DeAndre Hopkins Trade
While this is far from an official report, it certainly checks out. Now on the wrong side on 30, any team interested in a DeAndre Hopkins trade would need to be in the midst of their championship window and have a need at wide receiver.
Both the Chiefs and Bills fit that description to a tee. The Bills will always be competitive as long as Josh Allen is under center, but the rest of their core is starting to age. Stefon Diggs will turn 30 midway through the 2023 campaign, and Gabriel Davis didn’t exactly step up last year. The Bills will need to bring in some young talent at some point, but as far as the upcoming season is concerned, adding Hopkins will provide a much-needed WR2 and make it all the easier for the Bills to keep up with the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, desperately need another wide receiver or two. The position wasn’t too strong in 2022, and they just lost Juju Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman in free agency. DeAndre Hopkins might not be a prototypical Andy Reid receiver, but he’d easily be the best player on the depth chart, and that alone justifies a trade.
The Arizona Cardinals, meanwhile, are about to enter a major rebuild. Kyler Murray is injured and the roster desperately needs an infusion of youth, so the team would be happy to trade DeAndre Hopkins to the highest bidder. The only question is, who will that bidder be, and when will the deal go through?
When Could This Trade Happen?
Adam Jones stated that he believes that the DeAndre Hopkins trade could happen any minute now, but it would be surprising to see it happen any time before the 2023 NFL Draft.
Looking at things from Buffalo and Kansas City’s perspective, they probably have their eyes on the wide receivers in the NFL Draft. If a good one like Jordan Addison falls to them, they’ll certainly pull the trigger and effectively remove themselves from the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes.
From Arizona’s perspective, the 2023 wide receiver class is not a good one, and if the Bills or Chiefs miss out on their preferred prospect, they might panic and increase their trade offer for DeAndre Hopkins.
While DeAndre Hopkins is still great, he is getting up there in age and is due a massive salary – and he might want a raise on top of it all. Because of this, it’s hard to imagine the Cardinals receiving anything for then a Day 3 pick for his services. With this in mind, look for news of a DeAndre Hopkins trade to break sometime during the first or second day of the NFL Draft, probably after Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jordan Addison, Zay Flowers, and Quentin Johnston are no longer on the board.
Main Photo: Michael Chow – USA Today Sports
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